


Myths

by CrossingTheFourthWall



Series: Crystal's Tales [2]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Hoenn storyline, cloning, huge cast of sorts, plus an evil team I made up that is just plain despicable, some crossover bits with other works
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-12-09 08:23:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 82
Words: 286,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11665296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrossingTheFourthWall/pseuds/CrossingTheFourthWall
Summary: It's been a few years since Team Rocket had made its mark, and now another team is on the rise in another region. But what do they want? What are they up to?And why does it involve the Trainers of various other regions who are usually seen as heroes in their home?





	1. Prologue

The figure let out an "oomph!" as he tripped over an object and fell to the ground, with a resounding thud that jarred his form. However, it wasn't enough to keep him on the ground for long -- the figure managed to get back up just as quickly.

"Come on, Gold, we gotta move!" a creature called out. It waved for the figure to follow him deeper into the trees. "Those thugs'll probably be on us any minute, now!"

"I know, Ethan!" Gold shouted back. "It's kind of hard running in the dark in the middle of the woods, you know!" He ran for the creature, who promptly led him between a tight spot between two trees. "Besides, you're a lot more agile than I am, since you're a Pikachu."

"No excuses!" Ethan snapped back. "That escape plan didn't work out as expected, and we'll pay the price if we don't hoof it!"

"I know! I know!" Gold's golden eyes flashed with annoyance. "Don't you think I'd considered that?"

"Not when the alarms were set off, I didn't." Ethan came to a stop as they broke out of the trees and entered a clearing, his black-tipped ears going upright. "Uh oh."

Gold stumbled through the trees after the Pokemon. "What?" He looked up at the clearing in front of them, and his eyes widened. "Not good."

Four figures emerged from the shadows, each giving Gold and Ethan cold glares.

Gold's fists clenched, and he brought them up defensively. "Ethan, get behind me."

The Pikachu glanced back at the boy, eyes widening. Without a word, he dashed around to a spot behind his Trainer, then jumped onto the back of his sweatshirt and dug his claws in, shutting his eyes tightly. "I'm ready!"

Gold nodded, a smirk appearing on his features. "Okay!" He crossed his arms over his chest as electricity started to crisscross over his form. The yellow sparks disappeared into the boy's form after a moment, only to be released almost instantly as a blast of bright light.

The four figures who had them surrounded let out various cries of surprise as they covered their eyes from the blast.

"Now!" Gold called as the light started to fade. "And hurry!"

Ethan let out a grunt in response, then let out a primeval cry as electricity sprouted from his back in the form of a pair of large, sparking wings, which Gold instantly used by taking off into the starry sky above, leaving the figures to groan and complain about the sudden Flash attack.

"So...where to?" the Pikachu asked, watching the horizon ahead while Gold stretched his arms out like they themselves were wings. "You know I won't be able to run on our power supplies for long."

"I do. We're going to need to stop on the coast somewhere before we head out for where this whole thing started."

Ethan's ears went straight up. "You can't be serious. They said that event was a myth!"

"Right before we started to plan on leaving, I heard the higher-ups discussing something important, and it involved what they told us when we first got there. It happened, Ethan." Gold moved his arms to put the goggles that were propped on top of his hat over his face. "And we're going to find her."

"But -- how do you know she's going to help us? And how are we even going to _find_ her, for Arceus' sake?"

"I've got an idea." Gold stretched his arms out again after adjusting his goggles. "Have I ever told you about the 'Unknown Dungeon'?"

**Spacial Break**

_::Sir, we lost them::_

"How? You said that it would be easy to capture them!"

_::Unfortunately, it seems that they learned much more quickly than what we had originally expected -- they're much more synchronized than the others::_

There was a _slam_ as the figure brought his fist down on his desk. "I was told he wasn't at that level of power yet! That boy is a dangerous threat, and he must be found, or your head will be had for this. Do you understand me?!"

_::Understood, Alpha. E-3 will be found::_

Alpha leaned back in his seat ever so slightly. "Good. Track the boy's energy trail and return him here -- alive or dead, it does not matter. It is obvious that E-3 has discovered things that he should have not have found." He flicked a switch, halting the connection. Motioning to a figure standing at the door of the dark room, he stated, "Make sure the others know that E-3 has gone and turned traitor on the cause. If he ever returns, he must _not_ be welcomed with open arms."

The figure bowed. "Understood, Alpha." He backed out of the room and disappeared down the hall.

Alpha leaned back completely in his chair, touching his fingertips together as he placed his hands in a relaxed position on his chest. "Fools, all of them. And yet, I cannot live without them. Soon, they will be as useless as the rest...."

 


	2. Chapter 2

_"...and then the child brings out this little creature that looked like that Pokemon Blue brought here last time, only it had yellow rings instead of the blue ones his has. I blasted it with an Aura Sphere, then teleported the child straight back to the Pokemon Center."_

_"I think that Blue called it an 'Umbreon,' and that his had an unexpected color change as a result of some sort of virus it had come into contact with. He called it...Pokerus, I think."_

Two figures were sitting inside a room that appeared to be a kitchen/dining room at first glance. Upon closer inspection, however, it is revealed that the room is in fact a chamber in a cave that was repurposed as a living space. A pair of mats sat on the floor in one corner of the chamber, while kitchen appliances were lined up with food storage along one side of the chamber, a small table taking up most of the space in the center of the room. A single light fixture was located in the ceiling, and wires could be seen leading out of the chamber and into the main cave to another location -- most likely to a generator of some sort, which kept the appliances and light fixture running.

 _"I've heard one or two Pokemon in the area talking about such a virus,"_ one figure finally stated. This one was himself a Pokemon, colored in different shades of purple -- including his irises, which were a more vibrant purple than the color that made up his tail. The creature was sitting in a chair that had been made specifically for him, so that the Pokemon could sit there comfortably. If he had been standing, the Pokemon would have been over six feet in height.

 _"Who?"_ asked the other figure. This one was, for the most part, a human girl, who appeared to be about sixteen. She wore a pair of jeans, white shoes with pink stripes, and a white shirt underneath a pink jacket. It is not her outfit, however, that would gain an onlooker's attention, but her physical characteristics: blond hair, blue eyes...and a pair of pink, cat-like ears and a long, thin pink tail that twitched about as though it had a mind of its own. _"What do the Pokemon here know about it, Mythos?"_

 _"They talk about it like it's an honor to come into contact with it,"_ Mythos responded with a slight shrug. _"They don't know_ how _anyone can come into contact with it, however -- they've just said that coming into contact with it can make you stronger...with added side effects that mark you as one of the affected. Color changes are the most common, but I have heard rumor that some Pokemon can have their brains rewired so they can speak the human language -- like Riley."_

The girl looked a little surprised upon hearing this, but then frowned slightly, thinking it over. After a moment, she nodded. _"I can see how it might have affected him -- even though he started sparking English right after he had hatched, according to Red. The Pokerus virus must have hit his mother while she was laying his egg...."_ The girl let out a groan and shook her head. _"Professor Oak should really be the one to look into that, not me. I'm not the type to think so much about that kind of stuff."_

_"You can tell him when you visit Pallet Town next. I believe that was where you were planning on going, right?"_

The girl nodded. _"Yeah. It's been a while since I was in Kanto, and I was planning on stopping by Pallet Town for a few days before heading back out again. I was on my way down when Blue found me in Viridian and told me you were up here near Cerulean."_

Mythos chuckled. _"Catzin kindly showed me a corner of the Unknown Dungeon that I could have for my own use. I have seen him a few times since, but he prefers to stay out of sight, as the caves are now crawling with Trainers who are hoping to defeat me."_

The girl's eyes widened slightly. _"It's official? You're a challenge for any possible Champions?"_

 _"Indeed. Blaine, Blue, and Professor Oak managed to convince Lance of it. However, as I am near unbeatable by most of the hastily-trained Pokemon teams, I am nothing more than a side quest for those who wish to become stronger."_ Mythos gained a sad smile. _"There have only been two Trainers who have managed to defeat me, but none have attempted to capture me, which is good."_

 _"They probably made a public announcement to make sure that you wouldn't be caught,"_ the girl responded. She was about to say something else when a bell suddenly rang from somewhere outside of the chamber, causing the two to look over at the archway that let out into the Unknown Dungeon.

 _"A challenger?"_ the girl asked, frowning as he ears and tail seemed to disappear.

 _"It appears so."_ Mythos got off his chair and proceeded to walk out of the living space. _"Crystal, you may watch if you wish, but stay out of the line of battle. I do not want to see you injured."_

_"I will be fine, brother. I have a team of my own with me, and I also happen to have my own list of techniques. If anything comes near me, a Barrier will keep it away."_

Crystal, the famous girl referred to among the Pokemon Professor community as "Mewthree," followed her brother, the Pokemon referred to as "Mewtwo," out into the section of the Unknown Dungeon that Mythos had claimed as his own. It was the place where he accepted challengers, and the ground had since become leveled from the amount of times it had been used; not a spike of rock remained upright or even completely whole.

However, it is not the battlefield that had either of the clones' attention; it was the collapsed figure near a large bell at the edge of it that did.

"Hey! I need some help!" called a yellow rodent who was waving his arms around. He was standing next to the collapsed figure -- a teenage boy, from the looks of it, and definitely a Trainer, if the PokeBalls on his belt meant anything.

Mythos and Crystal looked at each other, gauging their expressions. After a moment, Crystal nodded, then turned and dashed over towards the Pikachu and the boy. Mythos followed close behind, a concerned look on his face.

"What happened?" Crystal asked as soon as she reached the Pikachu and his Trainer.

"He over-exerted himself, that's what!" The Pikachu looked over at the boy with concern. "We just got here, and I told him that he needed to rest before he came here to ask you for help."

 _"What do you mean?"_ Mythos inquired, bending forward slightly in order to get a better look at the Electric-Type. _"What is it that you need us for?"_

The Pikachu shook his head. "Gold said he wanted to explain it himself."

"Gold?" Crystal blinked in surprise. "Now that you mention it...."

The Pikachu's ears went straight up, and he looked at Crystal in surprise. "You know about my Trainer?"

"Yeah. He helped me take out Team Rocket when they tried to resurface without Giovanni almost a year ago."

Mythos stiffened, his eyes hardening in a dangerous look. _"Crystal...."_

"Mythos, I was _fine_." Crystal turned to look back at the Pokemon directly. "Ven and Kaz were with me the entire time. And besides, for staying underground for about seven or eight years, they weren't really organized."

_"Still, I do not want to see you getting into that level of danger."_

"I have seen the world for much longer than you have, brother. I doubt that I would ever be in any sort of danger."

The Pikachu looked between the two, his eyes widening to the point that they looked like they were going to pop out of his sockets. "So the rumors _are_ true. You're Mewthree, aren't you?"

Crystal flinched. "I would prefer it if you called me by my given name, Pikachu. I am Crystal."

"And I'd prefer it if you called me by mine! The name's Ethan!" The Pikachu pounded his chest in a proud manner. "Now, are you going to help my Trainer out or not?"

"I'm not the one to turn down giving help," Crystal responded. Her eyes started to glow slightly as her ears and tail reappeared. "I'm Teleporting you to the nearest Pokemon Center."

"No! Don't!" Ethan waved his arms frantically, causing Crystal's eyes to lose their glow. "That's probably the first place they'll look for us!"

 _"Who will?"_ Mythos prompted, looking more and more suspiciously at the Electric-Type by the second.

"This group out in Hoenn -- nasty humans. They did something to a bunch of kids that...." Ethan shook his head. "You know, Gold would probably be better at telling you guys what's going on. He's one of the kids, anyway."

Crystal frowned in confusion. "This is getting stranger by the second, Ethan. Who are you hiding from? And what did that do to Gold?"

"Gold can explain it better than I can -- he's the one it was done to." Ethan looked over at his Trainer, then back up at Crystal. "Could you give him some sort of recharge or something? Please?"

Crystal gained a concerned look and gave a helpless shrug. "I'm afraid not."

 _"Wait."_ Mythos stepped forward, his three-fingered hands moving together in front of him, looking almost like he was holding something. _"This might help."_ Electricity started to spark from his fingers, and a bright yellow ball suddenly materialized there. A moment later, the sphere was blasted at Gold.

Neither of the Mew clones expected what occurred next.

The Electro Ball hit Gold dead-on, but instead of sending him flying, Gold's body _absorbed_ the attack. Almost a second later, when the electricity was still sparking off his form, the Jhoto Trainer sat upright, gasping as though from a sudden adrenaline rush. The boy looked around quickly, taking in his surroundings, then froze when he saw who was crouching nearby.

"No way...." Gold stared with wide eyes at the girl in front of him. "Crystal?"

"Hi, Gold," Crystal replied. "It's been a while."

"No kidding." Gold looked around again. "What are we doing in the Unknown Dungeon?"

"I had to drag you in here after you decided to konk out at the entrance!" Ethan barked in reply. "Do you have any idea how heavy you are?"

" _Ethan_." Gold glared at the Pokemon with an annoyed expression, but then his gaze moved to the Pokemon that was behind Crystal. He instantly started to scramble back. "Crystal! Behind you! That's --"

"I know," Crystal replied. "Gold, meet Mythos. He's a good friend of mine."

 _"I am your brother,"_ Mythos corrected. His eyes narrowed. _"State your business here, Gold of Jhoto. Ethan refused to tell us before you woke."_

Gold looked over at the Pikachu, who shrugged with a sheepish expression on his face. Looking back at Crystal, he stated, "I need your help." His bright yellow eyes were filled with worry.

"My help?" Crystal repeated, frowning. "Why? What's happened?"

"There's another group getting together. In Hoenn." Gold shifted his sitting position and started to get to his feet.

Crystal rose to her own feet, as well. "Hoenn? You mean one of the regions to the south of us?" A concerned look appeared on her own face. "What would people want with them?"

"It's not so much them as with groups of kids." Gold held up a hand; electricity sparked off his fingers, causing Crystal's eyes to widen. "Kids like me."

 _"Impossible,"_ Mythos declared. _"No human should be capable of controlling electricity."_

"No 'normal' human," Gold replied. "And I'm not normal." A shaken expression came over his face. "Not like I once thought."

"What do you mean?" Crystal asked.

Gold let out a sigh and looked down at Ethan, who was sitting at his feet. "Almost seven years ago, someone broke into the Silph Co. building in Saffron. They didn't get away with any of the company's secrets, but there was proof that someone had downloaded information from equipment that was going to be demolished." He crossed his arms over his chest. "The data was taken by a couple renegades who started to make their own experiments."

 _"This does not sound good,"_ Mythos growled, his eyes narrowing.

Crystal shook her head slowly. "No...." Her eyes were wide in fear. "Did they create _more_ Mew clones?"

Gold shook his head. "No, they didn't." He gave a grim half-smile. "They made kids like me."

Mythos and Crystal exchanged looks of surprise, Crystal's Mew ears becoming as tall as they could.

"How is that even possible?" Crystal asked, looking at Gold. "You're --" She quickly corrected herself. "You've always been a normal human, as far as I can tell."

"That's what I thought. Then _they_ hunted me down weeks after we took care of those Neo Rockets and got me mad enough to zap the whole scout party. Ethan seemed to find it terribly amusing."

"Course I did!" Ethan replied. "I mean, you like us Electric-Types a lot. Made sense that you were one!"

"But...how?" Crystal repeated.

 _"And please, do not 'beat around the bush,' as you humans say,"_ Mythos added.

Gold blinked, then sighed and gave a nod. "All right, fine. Basically, they took human DNA and bonded it with Pokemon DNA of different Types, then grew them to about the size of seven-year olds and scattered them under the guise of an adaption agency taking care of amnesiacs." The Jhoto Trainer's voice had taken a more bitter tone.

"Half the kids died from something that looked like cancer," Ethan added. "The other half got rounded up and taught how to work with their Pokemon abilities." His face scrunched up in a look of disgust. "When _I_ heard they were up to no good, I told Gold and made sure that we managed to high-tail it out of there."

"I figured that the rumored Pokemon Monster in the Unknown Dungeon and its ally would be able to help," Gold finished. "We've been out here for two days looking for this area."

Mythos' tail twitched behind him, and he looked down at Crystal. The Mew-human clone looked back up at her brother with a pleading expression.

The Mewtwo sighed irritably, then looked back at Gold. _"I cannot leave my home with Trainers coming in to challenge me at random hours of the day. It might raise an alarm and gain you attention."_

Gold's bright eyes darkened as he frowned.

"But I can help." Crystal looked over at Gold with a determined expression while the Jhoto Trainer's eyes widened. "People outside of this cave don't know that I am what I am. These Trainers who have been affected are like me, as well."

 _"They are not related to us,"_ Mythos warned.

"I know that, brother," Crystal replied, looking up. "But that doesn't mean I don't feel responsible for them. They were made from _our_ data!"

The Pokemon let out a hiss. _"Do_ not _bring that up to me. There are things that I would wish to forget, but cannot. I do not want you to bring them up."_ He looked over at Gold, who looked terrified at Mythos' anger.

Mythos forced himself to relax, gaining a calm expression. _"However, you are right. These people are in a_ _situation that was identical to ours. If these people who created them are planning on using them for their own sinister purpose, then they must be stopped."_

"Then will you --"

 _"No, I will not come with you, Gold of Jhoto,"_ Mythos replied. _"However, you have need of my help, simply call, and I will come."_

"Thanks, brother," Crystal stated, smiling up at the Pokemon. She looked over at Gold. "My Pokemon team has been staying with Professor Oak for the last few days. We're going to have to go to Pallet Town before I go with you to Hoenn."

"Professor Oak?" Ethan piped up. "You mean the old coot who jump started the national PokeDex race?"

"Be nice!" Gold hissed. "If it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't have met you!" He looked over at Crystal. "If I set even one foot out of here, I'm going to get to a lot of attention."

"Then I'll provide a shortcut." Crystal grabbed Gold's shoulder and grinned as her eyes started to glow brightly with psychic power.

"Oh, boy," Ethan muttered. He grabbed hold of Gold's leg.

"Here we go!"

There was a bright flash, and Crystal, Ethan, and Gold were gone, leaving Mythos alone in his cave.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 2**

Gold looked around in surprise at the hilly, plain-like area he was now standing in. "Where are we?"

"Professor Oak's," Crystal replied calmly. Her ears and tail had disappeared while the Jhoto Trainer had been looking around. "As close as I can get without suspiciously appearing in front of anybody, at any rate. Come on -- his home is this way." She turned and started down a hill in the direction of what looked like a collection of houses. Cautiously, Gold followed after her.

"Does the Prof know who she is, do you think?" Ethan asked, looking up at the Jhoto Trainer.

"If she trusts him...." Gold shook his head. "I don't know. Back in the cave, she felt more like a Pokemon, but now...it's like I'm a beginning in New Bark again."

The Pikachu gave Gold a curious look. "Uh huh. Kind of like you."

Gold rolled his eyes at the Pokemon's statement. "No, she's not like me."

"Could've fooled me."

The pair arrived at the back door of a barn-like building with a large windmill at the front; Crystal was already standing at the door with one hand on the doorknob. She smiled at the pair, then opened the door and slipped inside, calling, "Professor! I'm back! And I've brought a couple friends!"

Gold stepped into the building, looking around with increasing caution when he saw all the mechanical equipment scattered around the area. However, he relaxed when he caught sight of the shock of silver hair and bright, friendly eyes looking in the direction of Gold, Crystal, and Ethan from across the room.

"Crystal!" the old man exclaimed, delighted. He started to make his way around the piles of machinery in an oil-stained lab coat, continuing, "I wasn't expecting you to show up here!"

"I thought it might be a good idea to pop by and see how you were doing," Crystal replied. She looked over at Gold as Ethan climbed up his Trainer's clothes before settling himself on Gold's shoulder. "Professor, these are Ethan and his Trainer, Gold. They're friends of mine from Jhoto."

Professor Oak's eyes brightened again in recognition. "Ah, I've heard about you! You're the boy who helped Crystal take down Neo Rocket, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I'm --"

Gold was cut off short by Oak grabbing one of his hands at the wrist and shaking it furiously.

"I've been waiting to meet you ever since I heard about it on the news! Come on, there's something I want you to see." Oak released Gold's arm and started back the way he had come for a metal table that looked like it was covered in wiring.

Crystal sighed and shook her head before waving a hand. There was the sudden sound of shifting metal, and the piles of machinery were pushed to either end of the room, giving herself and Gold a clear path. "I just hope the Professor hasn't run himself ragged."

"He does that?" Gold started forward, looking around at the lab. Certainly looked like a Professor's lab -- even had stairs that led up to the second floor. Maybe the living quarters?

"As far back as I can remember."

The pair soon reached Oak's workstation. The professor looked up as they came to a stop next to him, and he motioned to the pile of red and black machinery on his desk.

"I've been trying to find a way to give a PokeDex more data space," he explained. He picked up a red and black shell that looked like the device two particularly famous Kanto Trainers owned. "I've been working with Professor Birch on creating a internationally-friendly program for data storage on entires, but it's been difficult. I'm planning on holding a conference with the other regional Professors so that --"

"How long has it been since you last rested?" Crystal asked, frowning as she looked down at the pile of machinery.

Oak looked over at Crystal in surprise, then back down at his project. He let out a chuckle and shook his head. "I can't remember when I last relaxed, but I can say that Daisy asked me the same thing earlier this morning."

"Then I suggest you do so," Crystal stated meaningly. "This little project can wait for a few hours while you get some actual sleep."

Oak nodded and started for the stairs, then paused and turned around. "Before I do, though, I have to ask -- why is it that you came here with Gold? I haven't seen you do that before. With anyone."

"This is a bit of a special case."

Gold watched as Crystal's ears and tail reappeared. Oak's gave moved from the girl to him in order to gauge his reaction.

"I'm not exactly normal, either," Gold stated. He held up a hand and released a few sparks, causing Oak's eyes to widen.

"Raikou and Zapdos," Oak murmured. "This is impossible."

"That's what I was thinking about half a year ago," Gold replied. "I came to ask for help against the group that did this."

Oak frowned. "And they call themselves...."

"Team Magnus," Gold replied.

Oak rubbed his chin thoughtfully has his frown deepened. "I see. Then the break-in at the Silph building --"

"Yeah." Gold started to sound bitter. "Now you see why I need help from someone who knows something about this." He looked over at Crystal, who glanced back at him before returning her attention to Oak.

"I'm going to need my team," Crystal added. "And transportation."

"To which region?" Oak responded. He turned and started for the stairs again and stood on the lowest step, then called, "Kaz! Esmeralda! Your Trainer's here!" He looked back over at Crystal and Gold, waiting for an answer.

"Hoenn," Gold stated.

Oak's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Hoenn? Truly?"

"That's what he said, isn't it?" Ethan asked snarkily.

Before anyone else could say anything further, there was a Pokemon's cry from somewhere upstairs. A moment later, a pink blur dashed down the stairs and tackled Crystal, who burst out laughing.

"Hey, Esmeralda!" Crystal exclaimed as she stumbled back a step. She looked down, grinning at the pink, cat-like creature that was smiling up at her with its front paws on Crystal's chest. "You look great!"

"It's good to see you, too," the Espeon purred. Her forked tail waved as she got back on all fours. "I sensed a change in the winds. Are we going somewhere?"

 _"If Gold of Jhoto is here, I believe we are,"_ came a telepathic voice. Heads turned, catching sight of a humanoid, Pokemon figure that had a long mustache and a pair of spoons in its three-fingered hands standing at the base of the stairs.

"Hey, Kaz," Crystal greeted. "Is Ven out at his usual spot?"

_"Indeed. I informed him that you are here, however. He will meet you at the back door shortly."_

Crystal gave the Alakazam a nod. "Thanks." She looked over at Oak. "So, do you think you could get us a boat ride from Vermillion? Or are we going to have to ask a Flying-Type big enough for the both of us?"

Oak looked over at Kaz as the Pokemon finished coming down the stairs and stood at the base of them with his arms crossed over his chest. After a moment, a thoughtful frown came over the Professor's face.

"You know, I think Blue was planning on taking a leave of absence to do some traveling of his own for a time," Oak finally remarked. "Perhaps he would be able to give you some help."

"Blue's planning on leaving Viridian?" Crystal frowned. "I didn't know that."

"He only just called me about it about an hour ago. Maybe you can catch him before he leaves."

Crystal smiled and nodded. "I think I will." She turned and moved over to another table and grabbed three PokeBalls off a pile of books. Turning to look at Oak, she added, "And _you_ are going to go take a nap before you get pulled back into your work."

Oak chuckled and shook his head. "Of course, of course." He started for the stairs again, but then paused and looked back at the two Trainers. "When you arrive in Hoenn, go see Professor Birch. He needs to know what it is that is going on, and he may know children that could have disappeared because of this Team Magnus."

Gold nodded. "Right. Where does he live?"

"Littleroot. It's a small town at the southernmost end of the mainland, so the journey from here to Hoenn may be slightly longer than if you wanted to just arrive in Hoenn. Blue knows how to get there."

Crystal gave a nod. "Thanks, Professor." She pointed up the stairs, smirking as Kaz came over to stand next to his Trainer. "Now, bed."

The professor laughed, then turned and started up the stairs and disappeared out of sight to the second floor.

Crystal turned to look at Gold. "Looks like we have to go to Viridian. I can teleport --"

"Not a second time," Gold interrupted, holding up a hand. "I think I can walk along the route without getting too much attention from anyone who might be looking for me."

Ethan let out a groan. "Are you _nuts_?! They're probably looking for us -- I mean, we came _here_ almost as soon as we got out of there. Who knows what sort of spies they've got sneaking around?"

"This area of Kanto has one of the strongest Trainers short of the Champion," Gold replied. "I doubt they'd come by and bother us."

The Pikachu gained a reluctant expression, then slowly nodded. "If you say so."

Crystal motioned for the two to follow her. "Come on. Ven's probably already outside waiting for us." She started for the door, and Gold followed after her. Esmeralda and Kaz followed after him, exchanging a glance.

"Hey, Ven," Crystal greeted as they stepped out the back door. "How have you been doing?"

"Well enough," came a rumbling reply. The giant green dinosaur-like Pokemon nudged the girl with his nose. "Kaz said we were going somewhere."

"We are, but first we need to go talk to Blue about how to get to Hoenn." Crystal patted the Venasaur's head as her ears and tail disappeared again.

"Hoenn?" the Grass/Poison-Type titled his head. "You mean the place where some of those foreign Pokemon are coming from?"

"Seems like it. Come on -- we're going to be walking there." Crystal started away from Oak's lab and towards a line of trees in the distance.

Ven let out a rumbling noise -- Gold wasn't exactly sure if it was supposed to be a purr or not.

"I could use the exercise," the Pokemon stated. He started to turn and follow after his Trainer. Esmeralda and Kaz jumped onto the large Pokemon's back and sat under the flower like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Well, that's certainly a strange combo," Ethan remarked from Gold's shoulder as the Jhoto started to follow after them.

"What do you mean?" Gold looked over at his Pokemon.

"You wouldn't think a Psychic-Type would have a part Poison on her team, would you?" Ethan glanced at Gold.

"I had a Typhlosion on my team; what difference does it make?" Gold shrugged and started down a gentle slope, speeding up slightly in order to catch up with the others. "I picked up a few Ground-Types, too -- remember my Swinub?"

"Well...." Ethan scratched his head. "I guess it really isn't all _that_ strange."

 _"Pokemon of all Types used to be friends with each other, no matter the Type difference,"_ Kaz suddenly spoke up. _"Humans have never been aware of what alliances we have made without their presence."_

_"I was trained by a Fighting-Type once."_

Gold stiffened when he heard Crystal's voice echoing in his head. He looked ahead, only to see that Crystal was now walking backwards and was looking at the group.

 _"Rukario was a great help to me when I was attempting to get over my own fears."_ With that, Crystal turned around again and kept walking forward.

"I think I'll shut up now," Ethan remarked.

It wasn't long before the group reached a dirt path that was cut off in certain areas by patches of grass and tall ledges.

"This is the only path from Pallet to Viridian," Crystal explained to Gold and Ethan when they had caught up with her. "There are a lot of beginning Trainers in the area, so we may end up running into a challenge or two, depending on the day."

"Depending on the day?" Gold gave Crystal a curious look as they started down the route. "What do you mean?"

"Well, the beginners are Trainers who aren't quite ready to leave home just yet, even if they have older brothers and sisters already out on the road," Crystal explained. "They'll usually come out here every other day or two in order to work with the Pokemon they received from their parents -- or from Professor Oak, when they're ten years old. There are some days when they're all out here, and there are some days when there aren't any around at all."

"Sounds like you'd have to be pretty lucky to avoid Trainers here, then," Ethan remarked.

Crystal frowned slightly, looking like she was trying to think of a response to the Pikachu's statement.

"I wouldn't call avoiding them lucky," she finally stated. "Some of them would rather talk than fight, especially if a Pokemon like Ven is hanging around."

The Venasaur snorted. "That's just because none of them have Pokemon strong enough to go after me yet."

"Any Fire-Type of a decent level could give you trouble," Esmeralda remarked. "We just haven't run into any trouble like that since Red asked us for a spar two years ago, though." She looked over at Kaz. "Do you have any idea where he disappeared to?"

The Alakazam shook his head. _"My old Trainer has chosen to remain hidden for his own reasons. Where he chooses to be is his own decision."_

Gold looked over at the three Pokemon. "I'd heard that someone with a Charizard had gone up to Mt. Silver, and hasn't come back since. That could be Red."

"Mt. Silver?" Crystal cocked her head slightly, frowning. "I'd heard something about that old mountain suddenly gaining a protector of some sort, but I haven't been able to go up there. Guards have been put all around the mountain, saying that only certain licensed Trainers can get through."

"You can't?" Gold was frowning, now.

The Mew-human clone shook her head. "I haven't tried to go through the Gyms in either Kanto or Jhoto. I've talked with the Gym Leaders, sure, but I haven't actually _battled_ anyone."

"Your Pokemon look like they're pretty strong, though," Ethan pointed out.

"I just don't think I'm ready yet."

The Pikachu snorted. _"Ready?_ Come on -- that giant green dinosaur of yours could probably take out some pretty powerful Pokemon really easily!"

Ven made another rumbling noise that made him sound almost pleased.

"Oh, wow! Is that an actual Venasaur?"

Gold blinked, then turned his head before he caught sight of what looked like a straw hat run down the path and over to the Grass/Poison-Type.

"I've heard Trainers talk about their Venasaurs, and I've seen pictures, but I've never seen a live one before," said the figure under the straw hat. There was definitely someone under there -- and it sounded like whoever it was might be a girl.

Crystal walked over to the straw hat -- which actually came up to her chest -- and lifted up the rim so that she could see who it was that was admiring her Pokemon. "I always keep Ven out of his ball," she stated. "He likes it better out here than in there."

The straw hat tilted back, and Gold caught sight of the figure's face: girlish features that looked young for the size of the girl, and bright yellow eyes that were filled with wonder.

"You're the Venasaur's Trainer?" asked the fourteen-year-old girl.

Crystal nodded, and she gave a smile. "My name is Crystal. What's yours?"

The girl suddenly looked surprised upon hearing Crystal's name.

"Yellow," she replied, looking over at Ven. "My name is Yellow."

"Yellow?" Esmeralda moved to stand on Ven's head and looked down at the girl standing in front of the Venasaur. She inclined her head and sniffed the air. "She smells like a Rattata."

Yellow looked up at the Espeon nervously. "Um...."

"She said you smell like a Rattata," Crystal translated quickly. "Do you spend time with a Rattata?"

Yellow's face brightened instantly. "Oh! You mean Ratty? Yeah -- ever since the Gym Leader caught him for me. He said I needed someone to help me defend myself."

"Gym Leader?" Gold spoke up. "Do you mean Blue?"

Yellow looked over at him and nodded while her hand moved to two PokeBalks around her waist. "Yeah. Why?"

"We need to talk to him about something," Crystal explained. "Gold asked me to help him with something, and we want to ask Blue for advice."

"Careful, Crystal," Ven rumbled. "I don't think we want to scare her. It sounds like she likes Blue a lot."

"What makes you say that?" Ethan responded.

"Look at how she stands," Kaz murmured. Gold was surprised to hear him not using telepathy. "She's ready to defend herself."

Crystal looked at each of the Pokemon in turn, then looked back at Yellow. Gold also looked back at her, and was surprised to see that Yellow suddenly looked like she was ready for a fight.

She gripped one of the PokeBalls tightly and brought it off her belt in one movement, not causing her skirt to even shift.

"Who are you?" Yellow asked, looking over at Gold.

"I'm Gold," Gold replied. "Y'know, the Jhoto Trainer? The one who took out Neo Team Rocket with Crystal?" He motioned to the girl standing next to him, who nodded in agreement.

"I'm am old friend of Blue's," Crystal added. "I knew him back when he had started his journey."

Yellow blinked, gaining a look of confusion. "But...you look younger than he does. And he was ten when he started."

This was true, Gold realized. Crystal looked like a teenager while the two Trainers who had been involved in the original Team Rocket had grown up to nearly adulthood over the past seven years.

"Um...." Crystal frowned. "Let's just say that the years have been kinder to me than to him. Considering what we both have gone through."

Yellow was starting to look even more confused.

"Crystal?" Gold asked, feeling a little bewildered himself.

"Um...." Yellow frowned. "Are you talking about what Blue said he'd walked in on?"

"Well, it depends on what he told you." Crystal glanced over at Gold, who shrugged helplessly. Ethan looked between the two, trying to gauge the situation.

"Because everyone tells what happened a little differently," Crystal added, looking back at Yellow.

Yellow still looked cautious, but she nodded slightly. "All right. I'll take you to Blue, but you're going to have to tell me your side of the story."

"Crystal, I don't --" Ethan started.

Esmeralda let out a hiss that sounded like "shush!", shutting the Pokemon up.

"I probably won't be able to tell the _whole_ story," Crystal replied, ignoring the Pokemon's antics. "Everyone has their own secrets."

Yellow looked Crystal over with a curious expression, then motioned for the group to follow her as she put the PokeBall back in its place on her belt. She turned and started down the path, the rest of the group following.

"I was in the area when it happened," Crystal started. "I had been hanging out in the outskirts of Celadon when the entire casino was destroyed by Mewtwo when it flew in from Saffron. Before I got into the city, though, these three birds showed up out of nowhere -- Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno. I think Red had caught them."

Ethan let out a whistle upon hearing this. "Man. Didn't think he had it in him seven years ago."

"And when I took on Ho-Oh to prove myself?" Gold asked, looking at his Pokemon.

"Eh. You weren't exactly mute from birth."

"Boys, please." Crystal looked back at Gold and the Pikachu.

Ethan let out a sheepish chuckle, but he was ignored.

"Anyway, I ran out there with a couple friends in order to try and help. We ended up getting there when all of Red's Pokemon were trying to take out Mewtwo. And then this large Legendary showed up and knocked out Mewtwo and gave Red his voice." Crystal's eyes narrowed as she clenched a fist. "Giovanni was still around, though, and he tried to catch Mewtwo."

"I know someone stopped him," Yellow spoke up. "Blue wouldn't tell me who, though." She frowned. "I think he said that they liked their privacy."

"I would think that most people who can take on a whole team of Ground-Types without any Pokemon would prefer to be left alone."

Yellow's eyes widened. "They took on Giovanni without any Pokemon? And _beat_ him?"

Crystal frowned. "You said that Blue had told you this story before. Didn't he tell you about what Red saw?"

Yellow suddenly looked embarrassed. "Um...well...."

"Let me guess," Ethan stated sarcastically, "He didn't tell you and you wanted to know what really happened."

Gold frowned at his Pikachu. "Ethan --" He paused and looked around. "Crystal, weren't we supposed to have reached Viridian City by now?" He looked over at Yellow and frowned. "Because it looks like you led us deeper into the forest."

Yellow was definitely looking nervous, now. "Uh...."

Crystal started to look around, as did her Pokemon. The Trainer then turned to face the other girl. "Are you trying to lead us into a trap?"

The question was asked so frankly that Gold looked over at her in surprise.

"No!" Yellow waved her hands in front of her frantically, as though to ward off something. "Not at all! I'm leading you to where Blue is -- I really am!"

"Why would he be this far out, then?" Crystal prodded. "He has a Gym to run."

Yellow looked up at Crystal with a concerned frown. "I just want to make sure you are who you say you are, that's all."

Gold frowned. Yellow was starting to get more and more confusing by the minute.

Crystal glanced over at Gold with a frown of her own, then looked back at Yellow. "Would you please explain what you mean?"

Instead of saying anything, Yellow grabbed her hat and screwed it down more tightly to her head. When it had pulled over her eyes, she paused. A moment later, the hat was held up above the girl's head.

Gold's eyes widened as Crystal let out a gasp.

Yellow flicked the yellow ears a few times, swiveling the triangular shapes on top of her head before settling the straw hat over them. "Blue found me a couple years ago with Ratty and Doddy. He's told me about you and Red a lot, Crystal."

"Then, the whole story thing --" Gold started.

"Was a test," Yellow replied. "Blue heard about other Trainers disappearing and wanted to make sure that I would be able to take care of myself." She turned and started through a collection of bushes that blocked the overgrown path Yellow had been leading them on. "Come on -- Blue's this way."

Crystal and Gold glanced at each other.

"Were those...Girafarig ears?" Crystal asked with a slight squeak in her voice.

"Looks like it," Gold replied. "She probably understood our Pokemon the whole time they were talking." He looked back at the bushes. "We should probably follow her."

Crystal glanced over at her Pokemon. "Do you guys think she's all right?"

 _"She didn't seem to be lying,"_ Kaz remarked. _"I doubt you will be in any danger from one so young."_

Esmeralda and Ven nodded in agreement, causing Crystal to nod, as well.

"Then let's go." Crystal turned and started into the bushes, Ven lumbering after her. Reluctantly, Gold followed after them.

"What do you think Blue's doing out here?" Gold asked as he followed directly in Ven's path. Occasionally, he had to step around a couple fallen branches and bushes that had popped back up, but otherwise it was easy going.

"Training?" Ethan suggested, shrugging helplessly.

"I haven't heard any Pokemon crying out," Crystal called back at the two of them. "It has to be something else."

"He comes out here to relax," Yellow spoke up from even further up front. Gold could tell that she was speaking loudly so that everyone in the group would be able to hear. "I'm really the only one who knows about it."

"Why would he come out this far?" Crystal asked.

"I smell water," Esmeralda called out.

"And I smell river," Ven rumbled.

"River?" Gold frowned. "How do you know it's a river?"

"Not a river. River."

"Blue's Blastoise?" Crystal turned and looked back at the Venasaur. "Is the rest of his team there?"

"No."

"Why would he only come out with a Water-Type?" Gold frowned. "Wouldn't that leave him in danger of fainting to any powerful Grass-Types?"

"I told them to steer clear of the area," Yellow called back calmly. She stopped in front of another group of bushes and a collection of trees that were grouped close together. "This is Blue's only quiet spot, so you have to promise not to tell anyone that it's here, OK?"

Gold walked up to stand next to Crystal, and the two exchanged glances.

"I won't tell," Crystal promised.

"I won't," Gold stated.

Yellow looked over at the Pokemon and got nods from each of them -- even though she had to look at Ethan for a while before he finally nodded.

"OK," the girl stated. "Here goes." She turned around and started through the bushes, calling, "Blue! One of your friends is here!"

As Crystal, Gold, and the Pokemon followed after the girl, they heard a boy's voice call back, "Who did you bring, Yellow?"

"Crystal and a guy named Gold!"

The group broke through the trees and arrived in a large clearing that had a small pond taking up most of the space. On the other side that the group was standing on was a large blue Pokemon with a shell that had two cannons sprouting out of its back. In the pond up to his chest in the water was a seventeen-year-old boy with spiky brown hair and bright blue eyes.

"I didn't expect you to hunt me down here after going to visit Mythos," Blue remarked, looking over at Crystal. "Or that you brought a friend." He moved his gaze to the Jhoto Trainer, and his blue eyes narrowed.

"Professor Oak told us that you were planning on going to Hoenn," Crystal explained. "We need to go there, too."

The Viridian Gym Trainer raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? I'm going there for a vacation, not to be followed around."

"You probably won't get much of a vacation there," Gold replied. "There's a problem that I have to solve, so I'm going there to take care of it." He raised a hand, and electric sparks flew off his fingers. "Besides, I want to get back at the people who've been spiriting away Trainers in the first place."

Blue's eyes widened in surprise, and he reached up and gripped the dirt embankment around the pond. "You have _got_ to be kidding me."

"He isn't," Crystal replied, revealing her ears and tail. She caught sight of Yellow staring at her with wide eyes, but ignored it. "Apparently, some group named Team Magnus decided to take my data from Silph and use it to create others like me. Gold wants to go and shut them down before they can cause too much damage."

Blue appeared shaken. "Do you mean that they _made_ Yellow have Normal-Type DNA in her?" He motioned to the fourteen-year-old, who looked between him, Gold, and Crystal in surprise.

"Yeah." Gold looked over at Yellow. "They didn't have any Normal-Type kids before I escaped, so you're lucky to have found her when you did."

"Like I was going to let someone in a similar situation as me get poked and prodded." Blue shrugged with a half-smile on his face...right before a pair of cannons similar to the ones his Blastoise had suddenly popped up from behind his shoulders.

Crystal let out a gasp. "Blue! Since when did --"

"They started growing in over a year ago," Blue replied. "Guess I can use Pokemon attacks now, too."

"He hasn't been able to control the blasts very well, though," the Blastoise remarked. "Even with me teaching him."

"He'll get it, River," Crystal replied, nodding to the Blastoise. She looked back at Blue. "That's not why I'm here, though. Professor Oak told us you were going to Hoenn. Do you think you could give us a ride?"

Blue eyed the two Trainers in front of him, then gave Crystal a curious look. "You can Teleport, right?"

"Only to places I've been," came the reply. "Hoenn is unexplored territory." Blue started to open his mouth to add on to his statement, but Crystal held up a finger. "And don't talk to me about flying, either. Pokemon in PokeBalls I can handle, but not a human and his Pikachu -- and especially not for that far a distance."

Blue frowned upon hearing this, then let out a sigh. "All right, fine. I'll take you to Hoenn. But you're going to have to keep my presence there secret from whoever-it-is that you're hunting down. I don't want to get into a fight when I'm still trying to learn how to control all this." He motioned to the cannons on his back.

Crystal nodded. "I agree with you there. When were you planning on leaving?"

"As soon as my Pidgeot gets here, which should be soon."

Up above, there came two loud bird cries. The group looked up and watched as two bird Pokemon landed next to Blue's pond, their long streams of colorful feathers almost seeming to shine in the sunlight.

Blue climbed out of the pond as his cannons retracted into a shell-like growth on his back. Walking over to a nearby tree and pulling a pair of jeans on over a pair of blue swim trunks, he stated, "Crimson, Feather-Mane, we're going to be bringing two more people with us." He motioned over to Gold and Crystal. "Crystal and Gold have some business to take care of in Hoenn."

Having finished his statement, Blue grabbed a shortsleeve black shirt off a tree branch and started to pull it over his head.

The two Pidgeot looked at the two almost-humans, cocking their heads as they studied the new passengers.

"We can carry them," one of the Pidgeot stated, looking over at Blue and giving a nod. "But the Pokemon will have to stay in their PokeBalls." She looked back at Crystal with a pointed look.

Crystal gave a nod and showed the three PokeBalls she had brought with her. "You don't need to worry. I came prepared."

The Pidgeots nodded in approval.

"So, you can take us, right, Feather-Mane?" Yellow asked quietly, stepping forward curiously.

The Pidgeot who had spoken nodded. "Yes. And if you wish to reach Hoenn by tomorrow, we must leave now."

"Then let's go," Blue replied, finishing putting on a blue jacket with white faux fur trim in the hood. He pulled out a PokeBall and recalled River, then clipped it to his belt, where a second PokeBall was already located. He then jumped onto the back of the Pidgeot who hadn't spoken -- most likely the one named Crimson. Yellow followed his lead, but had to climb up onto Feather-Mane's back with her help.

"Maybe we should do girls on one Pokemon, boys on the other," Gold suggested.

Crystal nodded in agreement, then quickly recalled her own trio of Pokemon. She walked forward and climbed up onto Feather-Mane behind Yellow, who looked up at her in awe. Gold and Ethan soon followed suit, only they climbed up onto Crimson.

The Pidgeot shuddered slightly. "It feels like I've got a big Electric-Type on my back."

Blue cast Gold a serious glance. "We shouldn't have any trouble from him, Crimson. I wouldn't worry about it."

"By my honor as a Trainer, I won't cause you any trouble," Gold replied calmly as he raised his right hand. Ethan nodded vigorously in agreement.

Blue gave a nod. "Good." He looked down at the bird Pokemon he was sitting on. "Let's get a move on, then."

In response, Crimson let out a loud bird cry as he quickly leapt off the ground and took to the sky. Feather-Mane followed after him with a cry of her own. When the two bird Pokemon had reached a decent height, they flew off to the south.

None of them looked down to see that another group of figures had suddenly burst through the trees into Blue's clearing, looking ready for a fight before realizing that their prey was gone.


	4. Chapter 4

"You know, you never told me where you were headed," Blue remarked a few hours later over the sound of flapping wings as he looked over at Crystal. Below, the ocean was starting to look rather tempting, as the fast speeds of the bird Pokemon were starting to dry the Gym Leader out a little. There would be plenty of sea when he landed, though.

"Littleroot," Crystal called back in reply. "We need to talk to Professor Birch and see if he has any idea as to what's going on in the region."

"Littleroot?" Blue gained a thoughtful expression. "We could probably stop there for the night. I was planning on flying out to Mossdeep and working my way to Sootopolis that way."

Ethan looked down at the water below them and gave a slight nod. "Yeah." He looked up at Gold, having sat on the feathery back of Crimson so that he wouldn't end up flying off from the winds. "I definitely don't want to end up flying off here."

"You didn't when we went to Kanto," Gold pointed out, looking down at the Pikachu.

"Yeah, well, we were doing the flying, not relying on some bird Pokemon. No offense, Crimson," Ethan added quickly, looking around Blue and at the head of the Pidgeot.

"None taken," the bird replied. He paused, and there was a sudden dip in his flight path before Crimson recovered. "Did you just say that you _flew?!"_

"Yeah." Ethan shrugged. "What of it?"

"Electric-Types don't fly!"

"Hey!" Blue looked down at Crimson. "Are you saying Zapdos can't fly, then?"

"He's exempt," the Pidgeot stated quickly. "But still -- a Pikachu _flying?"_

"I agree," Feather-Mane spoke up. "Mice are not meant to fly."

"Ethan's been odd like that," Gold stated. "I don't know why he knows it -- or how -- but he just does. Professor Elm stopped trying to figure it out a long time ago."

"Maybe it's got something to do with the Pokerus virus I've heard about," Crystal spoke up suddenly.

She suddenly gained the attention of both riders and flying Pokemon.

"Pokerus?" Yellow repeated, turning to look at her in confusion.

Crystal gave a nod. "It's a virus that, according to what I've heard, actually strengthens Pokemon -- sometimes with unusual side-effects like changing color or odd abilities."

"Riley!" Blue exclaimed, slamming a fist into an open palm. "Of course! That's why Red's Pikachu talks in English!"

"Exactly." Crystal gave a nod.

"Does that mean _we_ can catch it?" Yellow asked, looking concerned.

Crystal blinked, then frowned. For a time, all that could be heard over the ocean was the sound of a pair of flapping wings.

"Maybe," Crystal finally stated. Her tail twitched behind her as though she was irritated, but it could have been just because of the wind around them. "We might not because of our human DNA, though."

"Oh." Yellow turned around to face in front of them, then suddenly pointed ahead while the other hand clamped down on her straw hat. "Look! I see land!"

The other members of the group turned their heads in the direction Yellow was pointing.

"That's the coastline of Hoenn, all right," Gold called out. "We'd better head south."

The two Pidgeot complied to the Trainer's word, slowly turning so that their passengers wouldn't fly off, then continued south as the coastline continued to come into view. A large mountain in the north of the region spewed out a cloud of smoke that seemed to settle over a specific area of the region, while the rest dissipated into the air.

"A volcano?" Crystal's ears went up in surprise.

"There's a desert over there," Yellow added. She pointed to an area of the region which, although it was a good distance away from them, could still be seen spewing up sand in never-ending spirals.

"For an island, this place is pretty diverse," Blue noted, watching the land pass below them. "Maybe, when I know more about my abilities, I'll give this place a once-over."

"It will be interesting to travel here," Crystal agreed.

The two Pidgeot passed over more of the region as they moved further inland, the rocky land of the north part of the region fading into a more forested area. Slowly, the land began to taper off into a peninsula, separated from the rest of the region by a strip of water.

"Is Littleroot this way?" Blue asked, frowning.

"It is," came Crimson's reply. "I've traveled the entire world since you became a Gym Leader. I know every inch if this globe." He looked over at Feather-Mane and gave a nod before starting to descend. Feather-Mane followed after Crimson with a short, sudden drop that caused Yellow to yelp and grab onto her hat.

"Feather-Mane, no thrill seeking," Blue scolded at the Pidgeot as they continued to descend, he being below on Crimson.

Feather-Mane shifted her course, and the rest of Crystal's and Yellow's ride down was much more smooth. After a slow circling of the small town below them, the group was finally back on solid ground.

Yellow and Crystal jumped off Feather-Mane's back, the girl under the straw hat looking slightly shaken from the Pidgeot's antics, but unharmed.

Crystal looked around as her ears and tail seemed to dissipate from the sight of the others. "Littleroot is certainly little," she remarked. "Kind of reminds me of Pallet Town."

"The Pokemon professors in most regions seem to share that trait," Blue remarked, already off Crimson's back. Scratching the bird Pokemon's head, he continued, "They prefer as much seclusion as possible to get their work done without interruption." He looked between Crimson and Feather-Mane, who had their wings stretched out on the ground and actually looked a little exhausted. "Take a rest somewhere in the trees. I'll let you guys know when we're moving out."

"You got it, boss," Crimson replied. He folded his wings, then started to walk in the direction of the forest surrounding the small village. Feather-Mane followed after him.

"Are those two your Pokemon?" Gold asked, looking over at Blue curiously.

"Crimson used to be," Blue replied. "I called him in for a favor once and he came back with the second Pidgeot, who called herself Feather-Mane. Which explains why Crimson insisted that I name his son Crimson Mane when he brought him to me as a replacement on the team." He turned and looked in the direction of a large, two-story building sitting at the edge of the forest clearing. "That must be Professor Birch's lab."

"Looks a lot like Professor Elm's," Gold remarked. "Only without the balcony."

"Professors have different styles of homes, it seems," Crystal stated. She started towards the building. "It's starting to get late in the day. Maybe the professor can give us a place to sleep for the night before we start looking for that --"

Crystal never got to finish her sentence, because a group of five figures in strange outfits appeared out of nowhere in front of Professor Birch's lab. Each one looked like ninjas -- dressed completely in black from head to toe -- and each had a PokeBall in one hand.

"Uh oh," Ethan muttered.

"These better not be the same guys who were coming after us two days ago," Gold stated, moving over to stand in front of Yellow in a protective stance. Electricity started to fly off his arms while Yellow's nervous look increased. Behind him, Crystal and Blue backed up to form a triangle around the fourteen-year-old.

The ninjas took a step forward, then threw their PokeBalls, releasing five different Pokemon: a brown Pokemon with claws and earthen spikes coming out its back; a four-legged rock monster with a horn on its nose; a creature that only had three heads sticking up out of the ground; a brown Pokemon that looked like it was part top and was covered in strange markings; and a yellow and green Pokemon that clearly looked like it had a hole in the middle of the hump on its back.

"Ground-Types," Gold muttered. "Great."

Crystal instantly started to reach for the three PokeBalls on her belt, but Blue stopped her by grabbing her arm.

"I don't think we need to rely on those guys," he remarked in a low voice. "We can take 'em." A grin spread across his face.

"I might be able to, but I doubt _you_ can," Crystal hissed back in a whisper. "You said you came here to train, and these guys shouldn't know what we are if they're chasing Gold. It will get more attention that we _won't_ want." She slipped her arm out of Blue's grip (the Viridian Gym Leader had a reluctant look on his face, but had softened his grip anyway) and grabbed one of the PokeBalls off of her belt.

Turning to face the Rhyhorn in front of her, Crystal increased the Ball's size and tossed it up, exclaiming, "Ven! Let's go!"

The red and white sphere exploded open, releasing the green dinosaur, who let out a roar and shook the giant flower on his back.

Blue tossed a PokeBall out while a rather sinister grin appeared on his face. River appeared in a flash, smirking. The cannons on his back shifted and aimed at the Sandslash and Dugtrio in front of him. Both Ground-Types got into what might have been considered ready positions.

"Vine Whip!/Hydro Pump!" Crystal and Blue called at once.

"With pleasure," Ven replied. A pair of vines came flying out of the collection of leaves at the base of the flower's stem and whisked through the air towards the Rhyhorn. The Ground/Rock-Type tried to bite one of the vines, but the Venasaur had his opponent wrapped in the green vines and in the air before the Pokemon could make a move.

River, instead of saying anything, let out a short laugh as he crossed his arms over his chest and fired his cannons. Two blasts of water slammed into the two Pokemon in front of him, sending them flying into the ninjas behind them. The two pairs went rolling head over heels from the attack until they slammed into a nearby house.

"You didn't need to overdo it," Blue remarked to the Blastoise.

The Pokemon shrugged, a slight smirk on his face. "Like their Trainers aren't dangerous. These guys could still be able to take us out without Pokemon."

There was a loud crashing noise as Ven swung the Ryhorn into the green-and-yellow, humped Pokemon, then into the brown top. The corresponding Trainers were also caught in the attack, and they were sent flying into nearby tree trunks.

Ven dropped the now-fainted Ryhorn on top of its Trainer, then rubbed his vines together like he was trying to get rid of the feeling of grabbing the Rhyhorn. "There. That takes care of him."

Crystal gave a nod of approval. "Thanks, Ven."

"Anytime." The Venasaur looked around the area. "So, this is Littleroot? You'd think they'd be more friendly."

"Something must've happened here," Gold spoke up. "I'd never had thought that this village would have gotten the attention of Team Magnus."

Crystal's blue eyes gained more of a glow, and she looked around the village. "I'm not seeing any auras other than the ones belonging to those we just took out." Her eyes lost their glow. "The town is deserted."

"Maybe the Prof did something they didn't like," Ethan muttered. "Looks like we won't be able to get much help from him."

"No," Blue agreed, frowning. "Something is rotten in the region of Hoenn. We're going to have to tread lightly here if we're going to find out what's going on."

"You came here to harness your abilities," Crystal pointed out as she turned to look at the Gym Leader. "Are you going to end up helping us?"

"I'd rather he didn't until he learns how to handle a Hydro Pump properly," River stated as he turned to look at the group.

"But we'll keep an eye out for anything that looks suspicious," Blue added. He looked down at Yellow, who looked back up at him with wide eyes. "Besides, I've got to make sure they don't come anywhere near Yellow. If they're collecting kids, she might be next."

Yellow nodded vigorously. "And I don't want to fight them...but I will if I have to." She touched the two PokeBalls that were on her belt. "Let's get out of here before more of them show up."

Blue nodded, then looked over at Crystal. "You still have my PokeGear number?"

Crystal nodded. "I'll contact you if anything big comes up."

"Likewise." Blue held up River's PokeBall and recalled the Blastoise. "We'd better go find Crimson and Feather-Mane and make sure they know about what's going on. And so that we can get to Slateport."

Yellow nodded in agreement. "Right." She looked up at Crystal and Gold. "Good luck, guys. You're going to need it."

With that, Blue and Yellow turned and walked in the direction that the two Pidgeot had flown off in.

Gold turned to look at Crystal. "We should get moving, too. We've got a lot of ground to cover if we're going to find everybody."

Crystal gave a nod. "Right." She looked over at Ven, who also nodded. "Then let's go."


	5. Chapter 5

Surprisingly enough, the route that led away from Littleroot didn't show any signs of Team Magnus being anywhere nearby.

Crystal didn't like it. A town isn't just taken over and the surrounding area left alone. Team Rocket had operations all over Kanto and Jhoto that hadn't affected just Saffron or Goldenrod. There had to be a few others hiding in the bushes.

"Is there anyone in the area?" she asked, turning to look over at Kaz. She had released the Alakazam just in case they ran into anything that Ven was weak to.

 _"None that I can sense,"_ Kaz replied with a shake of his head. _"There seem to be Pokemon in the area that are Dark-Types -- I can sense small gaps of nothingness in the bushes. However, there are no human brainwaves nearby other than yours and Gold's."_

"Dark-Types?" Crystal repeated in surprise. She started to look around quickly, trying to find the evil creatures herself. She wasn't about to be caught off guard by them.

"The Pokemon in this area are called Poocheyna," Gold explained, looking over at Crystal. "All they know around here is Tackle."

"We ran into a couple of them when we got here," Ethan added. "Annoying, but harmless."

Crystal forced herself to relax when she heard this. Just a couple weaker Pokemon, nothing to worry about.

"Hey, are you all right?"

Crystal looked over at Gold, who was frowning.

"You look a little pale," Gold added.

"I, uh...." It took a minute for Crystal to compose herself. "I've had bad experiences with Dark-Types before, in Kanto. I'd like not to relieve that."

"Oh." Gold blinked, then looked ahead again. "According to what I remember of the maps that they had hanging around the base, there _should_ be another town up ahead."

"Think they've got ninja problems?" Ethan asked.

"Only one way to find out." Gold looked over at Crystal, who gave a slight nod.

"I'm ready for another round," Ven remarked.

 _"I am prepared to fight if need be,"_ Kaz agreed.

Crystal started to pick up her pace. "They may have the people from Littleroot there, too."

The rest of the group started to pick up their own pace, and a few minutes later, they broke free of the trees and stepped into another clearing that looked identical to Littleroot's.

Except that this one actually had normal people. And there was a large group of about ten people staring at the kids.

Crystal felt her invisible ears drop down onto her head as she looked at the stares of shock and surprise that were directed towards her, Gold, and their Pokemon. She took a cautious step back, unsure as to how to respond to the mass amount of attention.

One man in a somewhat ripped lab coat stepped forward cautiously, eyeing the two Trainers with suspicious brown eyes that matched most of his hair -- except for the gray streaks that were starting to form along the sides of his head.

"Who are you?" he asked, looking between the two of them. "And what are you doing coming from Littleroot?"

"What makes you think we came from Littleroot?" Ethan asked.

"It's probably the only town from that direction," Gold replied in a low voice, giving the Pikachu an irritated glance. "They don't know that we flew in."

Ven shifted a little on his feet, cocking his head to one side as he looked over the man with a curious expression -- well, the best curious expression that a Venasaur could make.

"He looks familiar," the Pokemon muttered. "I think Professor Oak may have talked with him before."

Crystal looked over at the Venasaur with a curious frown of her own, then gave a slight nod. "Yeah. I think I know who this guy is."

She looked back at the man, then stated, "My name is Crystal, and this is Gold. Blue just flew us in with a pair of Pidgeot and dropped us off in Littleroot before going to Slateport himself. We were attacked almost as soon as we arrived, but we drove off the attackers and decided to move on in order to see if anything else had happened to the region."

The man's eyes widened upon hearing Crystal's statement, and he looked between her, Ven, Kaz, Ethan, and Gold in surprise.

"Crystal?" he repeated, looking dumbfounded.

"That's her name; don't wear it out," Ethan muttered. Gold sent the Pikachu a glare, but the look was ignored.

The man took a couple steps forward. "I'd heard about what had happened from Sam, but I never thought that --"

"I came only because Gold told me about your problem," Crystal stated, holding up a hand to stop the statement. "What happened to Littleroot, Professor Birch? I wouldn't have thought that a small village would get that much attention from the group Hoenn is having trouble with."

The now-named Pokemon Professor blinked a couple times before Crystal's statement registered, and he let out a sigh and bowed his head. "It started when Ruby and Sapphire disappeared from Norman's home some time ago. I didn't want my kids to go through the same fate, so I started to look into reasons as to why those two might have disappeared. Apparently, it got me into more trouble than I needed to be in."

Blue eyes met gold ones, and the two out-of-region Trainers looked around the group of people that were standing a slight distance away from them. Most of them looked ragged, and there was a pair of teenagers -- a boy and a girl -- standing with a woman's hands on their shoulders. Both of the teens eyed Crystal and Gold with suspicion.

"Those men clad in black appeared out of nowhere about a week ago and started to terrorize the town," Birch continued. "Norman managed to evacuate Littleroot, but he hasn't left his Gym in Petalburg since." The professor shrugged. "He hasn't been accepting challengers, either."

Crystal frowned, then looked over at Ven and Kaz. The Venasaur and Alakazam looked back at their Trainer with looks that seemed to dare Crystal to take some sort of action.

"Did you learn anything about what Magnus is doing?" Gold asked, taking a step closer to Birch. "Or where exactly it is they're hiding now?"

Birch glanced over in Gold's direction. "No, but I do believe I've found something that might get their attention."

"Get their attention?" Crystal repeated. "What would that do?"

"At least it's something," Gold replied, looking at the Mew clone. "And it might mean finding their base and putting a stop to whatever it is that they're planning for those kids." He returned his attention to Birch. "What is it that we'd have to do?"

"Take the local League challenge."

Crystal's blue eyes widened in surprise, and her invisible ears stood upright while her equally-unseeable tail went flat against her back.

"The League challenge?" she repeated, alarmed.

"Why not?" Ethan grinned at Crystal from his perch on Gold's left shoulder. "You said you were thinking about it, weren't you?"

"Well, yeah. But it was going to be for fun, not to draw somebody out!" Crystal looked over at Ven while she rubbed her left arm with her right hand. "And besides, I don't even have a full team."

"Whether you have a full team or not for a League challenge doesn't matter," Birch cut in. "You can take them all on with one, if you really want a challenge. Most Trainers start out with one Pokemon and choose others for their team as they go along."

Crystal looked at the Hoenn Professor with uncertainty, then looked over at Gold and Ethan, who were watching her expectantly.

"I think we should do it."

Crystal looked over at Ven in surprise, cocking her head slightly. "You think so?"

"Yeah. We spent enough time on the other side of the world training and helping other Pokemon out. I don't see why a Gym challenge is going to be any more difficult." The Grass/Poison-Type closed one eye. "Besides, I'd kind of like a change of pace other than just going around and helping people. I'd kind of like to show off."

Crystal blinked as she stared at the Kanto Starter blankly. A rather bemused smile worked its way onto her face. "You know, I never heard you say anything like that before."

Ven wagged his head from side to side. "I never really thought about it. So, are we going to take this League challenge or not?"

Crystal moved her attention from the Venasaur to the Alakazam on his back. "Are you up to this, Kaz?"

 _"I took the League challenge with Red back in Kanto,"_ Kaz replied calmly. _"I believe that taking the one in Hoenn shall be no problem for me."_

Crystal knit her eyebrows together, then gave a nod. "All right. I'll do it."

"That's the spirit!" Ethan burst out, shaking a fist in the air. "Now all we need is a map and we're good to go!"

"Not so fast," Gold warned, looking over at the Pikachu. "There's a lot we don't know about Hoenn's situation. We should get a good idea as to what's going on before we head out."

 _"Indeed,"_ Kaz agreed. _"Considering Littleroot's situation, there may be others like it all over the area. We must tread lightly."_

"Your Alakazam's right," Birch stated, nodding. "Team Magnus has been causing trouble all over the region -- even gone as far as to place Sootopolis, Mossdeep, and Ever Grande under siege. You won't be able to reach those islands anyway until you get Surf, but you need five Gym Badges at least before that will happen."

"Dad, let us go, too," the girl teenager in the group spoke up suddenly. She clenched her fingerless-gloved fists.

"No, May," the woman behind her and the boy stated. She shifted her hand from May's shoulder and put it on top of the red bandanna that was wrapped around the teenager's head. "It could be dangerous."

"Mom, these two are just as old as we are," the boy spoke up, motioning to Gold and Crystal.

"They came here to help, Brendan," the woman stated resolutely. "I won't let my kids go out and get taken away like Norman's children were."

"Lady, the only reason those kids disappeared is that some moron messed with them and gave them Pokemon DNA!" Ethan barked. "Your two kids probably don't have anything wrong with them!"

"Ethan," Gold growled in warning, giving the Pikachu on his shoulder a glare. "Don't --"

"Pokemon DNA?" Birch asked, frowning. "Gold, what is your Pokemon talking about?"

Gold's glare intensified, and Ethan cowered a little and gave a sheepish shrug. Then the Trainer let out a sigh and held up a hand. A moment later, electricity danced off his fingertips, and the group standing in front of them let out a gasp.

"Whoa," May and Brendan said together, eyes wide. Their mother, however, looked pale and terrified at seeing the display.

"And you say that Ruby and Sapphire have this ability?" Birch asked, motioning to Gold's hand.

"Not mine, but probably something along those lines," Gold replied, nodding. "There's a lot going on that I'm not quite sure of yet, but I'm planning on taking down Team Magnus before they do anything that could go sour." Looking over at May and Brendan, he added, "And we could use some help from local Trainers, too."

The two teenagers grinned, then looked over at Professor Birch. Their mother looked over, as well, but not with the eager grin her two children carried.

"I don't see why you shouldn't have help," Birch stated boldly, not looking at either his children or his wife. "But most of the Trainers around here haven't really had much of a challenge from anyone with Pokemon like yours." He nodded in the direction of Ven and Kaz. "You might want to get another Pokemon if you want to blend in and actually look like average Trainers. May and Brendan can help you with that, considering that they've been meaning to go out on their own for some time, now."

May and Brendan turned to look at each other with large grins while the woman behind them let out a sigh of surrender.

"Are you sure that you want to send them out now?" the woman asked.

"They'll be fine, Michelle," Birch replied, looking over at his wife. "Trust me -- you remember hearing about Red and Blue a few years ago with their Rocket problem, and Crystal and Gold took care of it again recently in Jhoto. Our kids are going to be fine."

The woman still looked reluctant, but then she gave a slow nod in agreement. "All right. But they have to use one of the Pokemon that we managed to rescue from our home before those figures came in."

May's smile faded. "But I wanted to use a Squirtle!"

"And I wanted a Chikorita," Brendan added.

"There isn't much we can do about that at this point," Birch replied with a shrug. "Come on, you four. Let's get you set up." The Pokemon Professor turned and started to walk through the crowd towards Oldale. May and Brendan followed after him with their mother. Gold, Crystal, and their Pokemon, after a moment, went after them. The crowd had to part in order for Ven to get through, but none of them seemed to mind having to move.

"I had to set up shop in one of the homes," Birch explained as they walked. "Everyone else has been living in tents since we got here, but we don't have much to complain about because of the summer weather."

"At least we've got a warm climate," Brendan added. "Winter isn't so bad here because of the volcano to the north."

Crystal nodded. "We saw it when we were flying in. A lot of Fire-Types must live in the area."

"Yeah, that's what I've heard. Rock-Types and Fighting-Types like it up there, too."

"You certainly know a lot for a kid who hasn't gone around the region," Gold noted.

May smirked. "Brendan wants to be like Dad, so he's been looking into the Pokemon that live in the region. He was planning on doing a lot of field research before those other guys showed up."

"And you?" Crystal asked, looking over at the girl with the red bandanna.

"I'm planning on participating on Contests," the teenager explained.

"Contests?" the Mew clone blinked and cocked her head, her invisible tail twitching slightly behind her. "What are those?"

"Don't get her started," Brendan warned. "She'll go on for _forever_ about those things."

May glared at her brother, then looked back at Crystal. "Contests are competitions that show off your Pokemon. You enter them in different categories and have them pull off combinations of attacks that allow your Pokemon to show their Cuteness, Coolness, Smartness, Toughness, and Beauty. There are different levels of difficulty, too."

"You don't fight?" Ethan sounded disappointed.

Brendan shook his head. "Some contests do, according to her, but not all of them. The ones here in Hoenn don't."

"Huh." Crystal considered this new information, frowning slightly as she tried to think of what exactly her Pokemon would be able to do. "I think I'd like to try that out."

The group soon reached a small house at the edge of town, where Birch motioned for the teens and Pokemon to stop.

"I'll go in and get the Pokemon so that you kids can make your choices," the Professor stated. He opened the door and disappeared inside the house, his wife following after him.

"What sort of Pokemon does he have on hand?" Crystal asked, looking over at May and Brendan again.

"The usual Starters, as far as I know," May replied with a shrug. "There's Torchic, Treeko, and Mudkip."

"He also picked up a couple of rare Pokemon to research," Brendan added. "Those two are supposed to be really hard to find around here."

The door of the house opened up again, and Birch stepped out. Crystal caught sight of a bunch of lab equipment scattered around what used to be a kitchen before the door shut behind the Professor.

"Okay, kids." Birch dug into the pockets of his lab coat and brought out five PokeBalls -- three in one hand, and two in the other. "Make your choice."

The teenagers all looked at each other, wondering who was going to move first.

Brendan raised his hand. "I guess I'll go first." He stepped toward his father and took one of the three PokeBalls in the professor's left hand. "Mudkip was my favorite out of all of these, anyway, and he's going to be helpful in getting to hard-to reach places later."

"I'll take Torchic," May volunteered, snatching a second PokeBall from her father's left hand.

"You're going to be at a Type disadvantage against me, you know that, right?" Brendan smirked at his sister.

May shrugged. "I'll just catch a Grass-Type. There's supposed to be a few hanging around here, anyway."

Birch turned his attention to Crystal and Gold. "What about you two?"

Crystal and Gold looked at each other in surprise.

"You're actually going to let us take one?" Gold asked, looking back at the Professor.

"It seems only right. If you want to stay low and take the League challenge, getting a new Pokemon to start with might make you seem as less of a threat to these Magnus people," Birch explained.

"Except that they know what we look like," Ethan muttered under his breath.

"Take them anyway. They could help you flesh out your teams later." Birch took the two PokeBalls in his right hand and dropped one each into Crystal's and Gold's outstretched hands.

"You're not giving away the research Pokemon!" Brendan gulped, eyes wide.

"I doubt that either one of them would have wanted the Grass-Type, Brendan," Birch replied, looking at his son. Returning his attention to Gold and Crystal, he added, "Those two Pokemon are native to Hoenn, but they've become rather hard to find as of late. You may find them to be helpful."

Gold and Crystal looked at each other again, then down at the PokeBalls.

Crystal lifted hers up to eye level and peered through the red, translucent half of the sphere. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw the Pokemon that was sitting at the bottom of the PokeBall. "Such a small one!"

"Ralts are among the smaller Pokemon to live in the region," Birch explained. "Trainers used to be able to find them all around Petalburg, but now it's next to impossible. I managed to capture this one at the same time as a young boy who was looking for a Pokemon to care for. I believe the two Pokemon might have been siblings."

Crystal gave a nod, only half-listening to the Professor. Gently, she pressed the button on the red and white sphere, causing the ball to pop open.

A small, white Pokemon instantly came out of the PokeBall, the large green head with red fins on either end shrinking down upon sensing that there were new people near it.

"Hey, it's okay," Crystal murmured, getting down into a crouch in front of the Pokemon. "You're among friends."

The little Pokemon lifted its head and looked up at Crystal with cautious red eyes.

"Who are you?" it asked in boyish tones.

"I'm Crystal," Crystal replied. "Do you have a name, young Ralts?"

The Ralts blinked upon hearing the question, then quickly shook his head.

"All right. So I'll just have to name you, then." Crystal frowned for a moment, looking around the area as she tried to think up a proper name for the shy, young Pokemon.

A thought entered her mind, then, and she gave a smile and a slight nod before returning her attention to the little Psychic-Type.

"Would it be all right if I called you Richie?" Crystal asked.

The Ralts blinked, looking up at Crystal with wide eyes. Then he gave a surprisingly vigorous nod and a slight smile.

"All right. Welcome to the team, Richie," Crystal stated, delighted.

"And what Pokemon is this?" Gold piped up, looking up from his PokeBall at the professor. "I haven't seen anything like it."

"That is an Electrike," Birch replied. "They're usually found around Route 113, but this one managed to wander all the way to Petalburg without too much difficulty."

"Electrike," Gold repeated, rolling the word around in his mouth. He looked over at Ethan and smirked. "Maybe I should have named you something different so that _he_ could be Ethan."

The Pikachu on Gold's shoulder let out a huffing noise and crossed his arms over his chest. "Yeah, sure. You just keep telling yourself that."

Gold turned his attention back to the PokeBall and he gave it a gentle toss, releasing a green, dog-like creature with gold lightning stripes running along its sides.

The Pokemon looked around the group of new-found Trainers, its nose twitching before it turned to face Gold.

"So, you're my new Trainer, then," the Electrike stated, sitting down and looking up at the Jhoto Trainer. After looking up at him for a moment, he asked, "What's your name, human?"

"Uh...Gold," Gold replied, blinking a little bit. He looked over at Ethan. "He's acting just like you did!"

Ethan snorted. "Doubt it."

"The name's Strike," the Electrike continued. "So don't you _dare_ try and give me a name, kapeesh?"

Gold blinked in bewilderment, then gave a nod. "Sure, Strike."

"Good." Strike looked back at the professor. "It's about time I got out of that stuffy place. I like to run around more than stay in something while we're going around."

"Ethan doesn't like it, either, so you'll fit in just fine," Gold replied. He looked over at Crystal, May, and Brendan. "We probably shouldn't be waiting around for much longer, if Magnus knows that Crystal and I are here."

Crystal nodded in agreement. "Right. We don't want to be caught off guard with all of you standing nearby." She looked around Oldale and at the people moving around and talking to themselves. Crystal then returned her attention to Professor Birch. "We should probably get moving, then, if we're going to get through the League challenge and take care of Team Magnus at the same time."

The Hoenn professor gave a nod. "Good luck, then. I'm getting the feeling that you're going to need it."

"Us? Need it?" Strike let out a laugh. "Sure, Prof. Like we need that."

"Don't put it off so lightly," Crystal responded. She carefully picked up Richie -- who let out a coo of surprise at the sudden movement -- and placed him on her left shoulder. "Anything can happen on a Pokemon journey--Red and Blue can definitely attest to that." She looked over at Ven and Kaz, who had been standing nearby and watching their Trainer and the new member of the team. "Well, I think we're ready to go."

"About time," Ven grumbled, shifting his weight. "I'm starting to get pins and needles from sitting around for so long."

 _"I believe we have sat around for longer than this,"_ Kaz replied calmly. He looked up at Richard with a slightly curious expression, which caused the Ralts to bury his face in Crystal's neck. _"Perhaps, before we go, you should introduce us to the young one."_

Crystal glanced over at her new Pokemon, who was desperately trying to make it look like he wasn't on her left shoulder. "Hey, it's okay," she murmured, bringing up a hand and touching Richie's green helmet. "These two are a part of my team -- their good friends of mine."

Richie hesitantly looked up at Crystal, then over at the Venasaur and Alakazam. "They are?"

"Uh-huh." Crystal gave a soft smile. "Meet Ven and Kaz, two members of our team. I've had them both since I officially started my journey, and although Kaz is older and has known me for longer, Ven is actually the Pokemon I started with."

Richie blinked for a moment, then looked back and forth between the Pokemon and his newfound Trainer. Finally, hesitantly, he raised a hand and gave a slight wave. "Hello."

 _"Greetings,"_ Kaz replied, giving a slight nod. He turned his attention fully to Professor Birch. _"Where is the closest location that my Trainer can register for the League challenge?"_

"The next town over, actually -- in Petalburg," Birch replied. He jabbed with his thumb in the direction of what looked like the entrance to a Route through a stretch of forest. "Norman's Gym is there, but I doubt that he's going to be taking any challengers."

"You mentioned that before," Gold noted, frowning.

"Maybe he'll make an exception for us," Ethan suggested, grinning.

"Well...I doubt it, but you can certainly try." Birch grinned himself. "Now, get going -- all of you! Team Magnus isn't just going to keel over by itself, you know!"

"Right!" Crystal, Gold, Brendan, and May said together.

"We'll go on ahead and let Norman know you're coming," May added. "Come on!" She took off towards the Route, Brendan following right on her heels.

Ven snorted. "Kids these days...."

Crystal smiled slightly and shook her head. "They're just eager to get started, that's all." She tapped the two empty PokeBalls that hung from her belt. "You two should probably get back in here. If I'm going to look like a beginning Trainer, it would probably be good for only Richie to stay out."

The Venasaur and Alakazam gave a nod, then disappeared into their respective PokeBalls. Moments later, Crystal placed Richie's PokeBall there next to Kaz's.

"We'd better not let those two get too far ahead of us," Gold remarked. He jabbed a thumb in the direction of the Route. "If Magnus was in Littleroot, then other members of their team could be scattered all over the region -- including in the next town."

"Right," Crystal agreed. A grin came over her face. "Race you there!"

**Spacial Break**

"Alpha! We just received a report from the Ground unit we stationed in Littleroot!"

A shadowy figure turned his head upon hearing the grunt's voice. The grunt, who was standing in the light of the doorway, was shaking slightly as he looked into the dark room.

"Well?" Alpha asked. "Spit it out! We don't have all day."

"A group of Trainers few in from the north, sir," the grunt stated nervously. He fingered the red and blue fabric that made up the shirt of his uniform. "They used a Blastoise and a Venasaur in order to take out the entire unit. Then they disappeared into the region."

"Where?"

"We...." the grunt swallowed. "We don't know, sir. The entire unit was knocked out in seconds. No one saw them leave."

Alpha's fists clenched. _So...this is how it starts._

"Sir?" the grunt sounded uncertain. "Do you have any orders for us?"

"...Yes, I believe that I do. Scour the entire region if you have to, but find those Trainers who attacked us. If they came from the north and had a Blastoise and a Venasaur with them, it's likely that they are a part of Kanto's elite. Remain on your guard and keep multiple Types with you at all times, if at all possible."

"Yes, sir."

"Now leave."

The grunt quickly bowed and backed up a short distance, revealing the full color of his attire: a red and blue long-sleeved shirt, the colors separated by a jagged line down the center; black pants with white stripes running down the outside of the legs; pure black boots. In the center of the black bandanna he wore on his head, there was a mountain of sorts behind a human skull.

When the grunt had taken off down the hall after standing still for a moment, Alpha turned his gaze to an extremely dark corner of his office. "You have been silent for some time. Do you have anything to say?"

There was a low growl from the shadows, then a teenage girl's voice: "They'll take you down, whoever they are. And they'll free me."

"We'll see about that," Alpha purred in response. His strange, light gray eyes seemed to glow as he spoke. "Perhaps, when the time comes, you will be the one to put them down."

"No! I never will!" Despite the conviction in the girl's voice, she also sounded strangely uncertain. Alpha noticed this and let out a laugh.

"I know that I am breaking through your defenses," Alpha stated, giving a sinister smile. That quickly faded, however. "Go out on patrol. Maybe that will show you how dire your situation truly is."

There was a pause if silence, then a bright flash of light came from the corner. If Alpha had been watching carefully and had shielded his eyes just right...he might have seen a girl sitting with her knees curled to her chest, glaring in his direction...

...and a long, pink tail curled around her feet, and pink, cat-like ears flat against her head.


	6. Chapter 6

When Crystal, Gold, and their Pokemon had arrived in Petalburg, they were met with a sight that they had definitely not been expecting.

"What's the commotion about?" Gold asked, frowning.

Ethan climbed up from Gold's right shoulder and sat down on top of his Trainer's head. Moving a paw above his eyes to block out the sun, the Pikachu scanned the area as he tried to look over the crowd.

"Looks like May and Brendan might have gotten into trouble," Ethan noted, smirking. "They're glaring at some old guy with a sloth Pokemon hanging around his neck."

"Sloth Pokemon?" Crystal repeated. She moved up on top of her tiptoes and tried to look over the heads of the people in front of them. Invisibly, her ears perked up as soon as she caught sight of the red bandanna that May was wearing on top of her head. Maybe she could catch some of what was being said?

"...I already told your father that I'm planning on closing down the Gym," an older figure was saying. His dark blue hair looked like it was closely cropped to his head, and it seemed to be starting to turn at least somewhat gray. "If this group is the reason Sapphire and Ruby disappeared, then I'm going after them."

"Sir, please don't!" Brendan suddenly spoke up. "There's more Trainers than just us who are going to be taking on these guys and the League Challenge. If you could keep the Gym open for just a little longer, then we can get our Badges without looking for someone to transfer into the position!"

"Do you really think that people are going to be flocking to my position?" the other man replied bitterly. "This Team Magnus has practically cut off all communication with the outside world; I can't send mail back to our relatives in Jhoto without wondering if these goons are reading what I send--or burning it, even."

Crystal's eyes widened. "This guy...he sounds defeated. Like he's completely given up hope of others coming." She fell back a little in order to let her full weight rest naturally on all her feet, a bewildered look on her face.

"Sapphire and Ruby were taken from him," Gold responded. "I'd kind of think that Norman would have tried to go after them, then given up trying to find them."

Crystal looked at Gold in surprise. "That's Norman?"

"Yeah. He used to live in Cherrygrove, before he moved over here. Professor Elm talked about him a lot when I was still in New Bark." Gold frowned. "He's known for his fighting spirit, and to see him like this...this isn't right."

"You got that right," Ethan agreed. "Maybe we should do something in order to cheer him up and get him moving."

Crystal sent a look of surprise in the Pikachu's direction. "Where did that idea come from?"

"Hey -- I may not act like a soft Pokemon, but seeing this guy not acting like he usually does has got me more on my toes than usual. If we can get him back to the way he was, then maybe he can start taking challengers again."

Before either Trainer could move or say anything in response to Ethan's suggestion, Norman's voice suddenly came out over the crowd.

"Hey, you two back there! Come over here where I can see you!"

Crystal and Gold stiffened upon hearing the voice, then looked at each other with surprised looks on their faces.

"Well, we should probably get over there," the Jhoto Trainer remarked. "Come on."

Gold started to weave his way through the crowd, Strike on his heels. Crystal followed after him, her invisible tail tucked close to the back of her shirt so that no one would end up getting caught by surprise and end up revealing what she was. Within moments, the two had managed to make their way into the center, where May, Brendan, and the Gym Leader were standing.

"You two don't look like local Trainers," Norman noted, looking Crystal and Gold over. "Did you come to challenge me from somewhere in the northern section of the region?"

"We're not from Hoenn," Crystal replied. "My name is Crystal, and I'm from Kanto. This is Richie." She motioned to the Ralts on her shoulder, who snuggled himself closer to his Trainer.

"And I'm Gold, from Jhoto," Gold added, "and these two are part of my Pokemon team -- Ethan and Strike." He motioned to the Pikachu and Electrike in turn.

Norman's eyes widened. "Kanto and Jhoto?" He shook his head. "That can't be. Ever since Magnus appeared, we haven't been able to make contact with any of the other regions. I doubt that the ships are even running between regions at this point."

"With all due respect, sir, we didn't travel here by ship," Gold replied seriously. "We came here by Pidgeot, after I left this region on my own with Ethan a few days ago. We were held by Magnus until that point."

"They came and found me, and I agreed to help," Crystal added when Norman's gaze moved to her. "I've worked with Gold before--when Team Rocket tried to rise again. We may be in a different region and facing a different threat, but it's going to be the exact same result as before."

 _I hope,_ the Mew-human clone added to herself.

Norman looked somewhat confused at the two Trainers' statements. Around them, the crowd started to murmur. With her sharp ears, Crystal was able to catch some of their conversations.

_"Crystal? But isn't she some sort of recluse that no one's ever seen?"_

_"Gold disappeared almost half a year ago. Where did he--"_

_"How did he escape from Team Magnus?"_

_"Are they lying?"_

_"Is it possible that this is a trap set for Norman?"_

Norman's face shifted, as though he was hearing every single word that was being spoken. He held up a hand, stopping all talk. The sloth Pokemon hanging around his neck let out a loud yawn as a snot bubble suddenly came out of its nose.

"Your Ralts seems to trust you," the man noted. "Normally, the ones we've seen around here make it a point to avoid Trainers at all costs, because all they demand is conquest over their opponents. The only two people I have seen who had caught a Ralts recently would be Wally and Professor Birch."

"I received Richie from Professor Birch," Crystal responded. She absently reached up and stroked the Ralts' green helmet, getting a soft coo from the small Psychic-Type. "My intentions are to stop Team Magnus from following through with whatever they wish to accomplish. Keeping my friends' damage to a minimum would be nice, as well, but I know that Pokemon have to actually train their bodies in order to become stronger and reach that next step. A...a friend of mine taught me that several years ago. So long as I can train Richie at the pace he chooses, I won't push him any harder than he thinks he can go unless the situation calls for it."

Richie cooed again. "I don't mind if you push me to become stronger. Your aura is soothing, and I want to be able to protect my friends, too."

Crystal looked over at the little Psychic-Type in surprise, but then gave a soft smile. "I'll keep that in mind."

Norman inclined his head. "All the same, it's unusual for a Ralts to show themselves to anyone and decide that is who is going to train them. If you are going to take on Team Magnus as you say, then you are going to need the firepower to back it up."

"Where have you been, old man?!" Ethan roared. "We took out Team Rocket! Isn't that enough?!"

"He isn't talking about our past experiences," Gold muttered. "He's talking about our League challenge."

"Which you still have to register for," the Pikachu muttered pointedly, crossing his arms over a chest. "We should have gone straight off the Pokemon Center, not come over to listen to this old geezer."

Gold and Crystal both shot Ethan annoyed looks. The Electric-Type shrugged helplessly, a sheepish grin on his face.

"So you _are_ going to take it."

Crystal and Gold looked back at Norman, who carried a somewhat disinterested expression. However, there was a strange gleam in his eyes that made Crystal wonder if something in his mindset was starting to change.

"Among the local Trainers, I'm known to be more of a barrier than the other Gym Leaders that you can reach without Surf," Norman stated, crossing his arms over his chest. "However, the other Gym Leaders are also difficult in their own right. Prove that you can handle me by defeating the four other Gym Leaders from here to Lavaridge to the north. If you manage to defeat me, then I'll allow you to have access to the move Surf so that you can reach the islands to the east of here."

Crystal and Gold looked at each other, the former frowning slightly in confusion.

"He's talking about Ever Grande, Sootopolis, and Mossdeep," the Jhoto Trainer explained. "The cities that are being held under siege by Magnus."

"The _main_ cities," Norman corrected. "The other cities and towns of Hoenn have been having their own brands of trouble as a result of their actions, as well."

"Really?" Crystal looked around the area quickly, trying to look beyond the crowd. "Are there any around here?"

"Nope!" Brendan popped the "p" of his exclamation, smirking. "Norman scared them too much, so they've been leaving Petalburg and Oldale alone, since they consider it his territory."

"We think," May added quickly. "I mean, we haven't run into anybody who's going to confirm it. Or wants to."

"Something tells me we might figure that out the deeper we go into the region," Crystal noted. "So, all we have to do now is register for the League, then beat the Gym Leaders in this part of the region?"

Norman gave a nod. "The Pokemon Center here is equipped with the technology that will allow you to register. It should be simple enough for the two of you to understand, since you've taken the challenge before."

Crystal became somewhat taken aback at the Gym Leader's statement. "Wh-what?" She shook her head quickly. "I'm afraid you're mistaken. I haven't taken the League challenge before."

Norman raised an eyebrow. "You haven't? But I was under the suspicion that--"

"I've taken the challenge before," Gold spoke up quickly. "Crystal just shows up whenever she senses trouble in different regions."

Crystal nodded, thankful that Gold was able to cover for her so easily. "I helped Red before in Kanto, and Gold in Jhoto. I didn't exactly think that I would have been ready for a League challenge at either time."

Understanding flashed across Norman's face. "Well, if you managed to hold yourself through Team Rocket twice, then I suspect that you'll be more than capable of taking a League challenge. Considering that this is your first time, and considering how strong your Pokemon probably are, however, you may end up being forced to take the challenge at a higher level than most beginning Trainers. Unless you have a plan to make yourself appear weak to Team Magnus."

A worried light flashed into Crystal's blue eyes as she understood what Norman was getting at. "Well, right now, I have four Pokemon on my team, but...only one of them really needs training at the moment." She looked at Richie, who turned his head and tilted it back so that he could look at her from underneath his green helmet. "If I'm going to take on the League and try to look like a true beginner, then I'll have to fight with just Richie until later."

Richie gained a nervous expression, but he tried to override it with a more confident expression. "Don't worry. I can become strong."

"If that's what you plan on doing, then you're going to need more Pokemon at his level and of various Types so that you can take on the other Gyms without any difficulty. Team Magnus will probably cause you trouble, too." Norman's tone took on a grim note as his visage darkened. "From what I've heard, they've split their group into separate units that specify in specific Types, so you're going to have to be careful."

Crystal gave a nod, thinking back to the confrontation at Littleroot and all the Ground-Types that they had been forced to combat. "I think I'll be okay for now, but I'll keep that in mind."

"Good, because I've heard about your Psychic-Type team style, and I'm sure that Magnus has a way to counteract that." Norman then turned his gaze to Gold's golden orbs. "The same goes for you. Since you've taken the challenge before, you'll already be in the system. Unless you let Nurse Joy know, you'll probably be taking the challenge at a higher level, as well."

Gold sighed. "My team, except for Ethan, was left behind in Jhoto. They did give me a Pokemon as soon as I got there, but...." The Jhoto teen fingered one of the PokeBalls on his belt, and a spark of electricity went across its surface. "I don't exactly want to use it, and sending it into the Box system is going to send a message all the way back to _them_. So I have to keep it with me. Other than that, I just have Strike."

The Electrike looked up at Gold, then at Norman with a suspicious glare. Norman met the look easily with a slight frown of his own.

"I remember you," he noted. "I tok you to Birch a few months ago when you were causing trouble in town."

Strike snorted, then turned his nose up in the air and looked away from the Gym Leader with a haughty air.

Norman looked back at Gold. "You're going to have your hands full with that one."

"I've dealt with Pokemon like him before." Gold sent a sidelong glance at his Pikachu, who was know folding his arms over his chest and looking away in a bit of annoyed state. "It'll be a bit of a hassle, but I think I'll be able to get him under control."

"So, where's the Pokemon Center?" Crystal asked, looking around.

"It's this way," May replied, motioning for Gold and Crystal to follow her.

"We were about to go there ourselves, but then we saw Norman," Brendan added.

The group of four turned and started walking, the crowd around them parting to let the Trainers go on their merry way. Crystal saw the strange looks that the people were giving her and Gold, and she attempted to put them out of her mind.

 _They aren't staring at you because of your Mew ears and tail, it's because you decided to come here from Kanto to help them out,_ the blond scolded herself. _Stop worrying about it._

The four soon arrived at a white, two-story building with a bright red roof. It was obviously designed differently from the Pokemon Centers that Crystal had seen in Kanto and Jhoto, but the familiar PokeBall symbol on the front above the entrance made her feel more comfortable as a whole.

"This, of course, is a Pokemon Center," Brendan stated, turning to look at Crystal and Gold. "I don't know how you guys have things set up in Kanto and Jhoto, but it's going to be a little different here."

"You see how we don't have a PokeMart around here?" May added, motioning to the other buildings in the vicinity. "We used to have one, but ever since about two years ago, it was decided that the Pokemon Centers and PokeMarts exist in the same building. I think it was started during some renovations in some region named Unova far to the north from here."

"It's actually a pretty good idea," Brendan added. "That way, no one has to worry about going between the Pokemon Center and the PokeMart in a major storm."

Crystal gave a nod in agreement. "And all Pokemon Centers are the same, right?"

"Right." Brendan walked over to the doors and opened them. "Come on. We have to go in so that we can register, anyway."

Crystal gave a nod in agreement, then stepped inside after Brendan and May.

The inside of the Pokemon Center was certainly warm and inviting, like it always was back in Kanto. The only major difference that the Mew clone saw--besides the choices in furniture that made up Hoenn tastes--was the extra counter with two people with blue aprons standing behind them.

"Welcome!" the Nurse Joy at the main counter called out. "Is there anything we can do for you today?"

"We're here to register for the League challenge," Brendan replied, walking over to the pink-haired nurse. "All four of us."

The kind smile on the woman's face wavered a little. "I'm not exactly sure if that is even possible at this time."

The pouting Pikachu on Gold's shoulder looked over at the Nurse in surprise. "What?"

"It doesn't have anything to do with the disappearing kids, does it?" May asked, frowning.

"Well...yes and no...." Nurse Joy looked somewhat uneasy. "Because of certain events, some of the members of the Elite Four and Champions of several regions have become absent -- including members of our own Elite Four and Champion, Steven Stone. As a result of that, most Trainers have placed their challenges on hold until they've returned to their positions in the various League branches. Also, the danger of children disappearing has caused many parents to hold their children back, decreasing the number of Trainers for Gym Leaders to challenge, and causing the federation to decide that--"

"We don't care about that!" Ethan burst out, startling the four Trainers and the other Pokemon present. "All we want to do is go through the stupid challenge! Is that too much to ask?"

Crystal looked at the Pikachu in surprise, blinking her blue eyes in slight befuddlement at the Electric-Type's outburst.

Nurse Joy was apparently surprised, as well, because she blinked a few times before giving a concerned expression. "Are you sure you wish to take the challenge now? Because it will most certainly not be easy."

"We'll be able to handle what the world throws at us," Brendan replied, nodding.

Crystal couldn't help but wonder at Brendan's statement, because while he was certainly not an experienced Trainer yet, there seemed to be an aura of extreme confidence around him that left the Mew clone a little uneasy. Taking note that the others didn't seem to be reacting in this way, she attributed it to the Pokemon side of her DNA and put it off as some sort of strong sense that would act as either natural repellant or a natural magnet for the son of Birch.

"All right, then, if you think you will be able to...." Nurse Joy reached under the counter and pulled out four stacks of papers before placing them on the counter. "You'll need to fill these out in order to register for a certified Trainer license or an upgrade from a previously obtained license from another region."

Crystal gave the nurse a nod as she took one of the stacks of paper. "Thank you." Her blue-eyed gaze quickly scanned the lobby of the Pokemon Center before finding a table that had a small stack of pencils lying nearby. She walked over to it and sat down, being careful not to jostle the Ralts on her shoulder too much. The others soon joined her, pulling up chairs and grabbing pencils before digging into the pile of forms.

Crystal ran into her first problem right on the first page.

"This asks for a last name...." Blue eyes shot up to look over at Gold, who was across the table from where Crystal sat.

"So?" Brendan piped up from his seat next to her.

"I kind of...don't have a last name," Crystal admitted sheepishly.

"Don't have one?" May repeated, blinking in surprise from where she sat next to Gold. "How's that even possible? Doesn't your family have another name that they go by?"

"Well...." Crystal paused, debating whether or not to reveal more about herself to explain her own situation to the others.

It seemed most likely that Gold and Ethan understood, as they had managed to hunt her down in Kanto in order to ask for help. However, Brendan and May probably never sat in on their father's conversations with Professor Oak, since the Kanto professor had confided in the Hoenn one about the secret that he had come across as a result of his... _legendary_ connections.

"We _do_ have a name, but...well, it's kind of not one that I would want to throw around," Crystal finally stated, attempting at a half-truth. While her family on her human side was pretty much unknown at this point -- Blaine refused to tell her of her heritage, even after Team Rocket had been disbanded a second time -- her Pokemon side was much easier with making connections, especially considering that two of them were her brothers and the third was her sister.

"Why not?" Brendan asked. "I mean, it can't be that _bad_ , can it?"

"It's not bad, it's just...I don't want anyone to know who I _am_ unless it's on my own terms." Crystal paused carefully before adding, "After all, if I'm going to pretend to be a beginner Trainer, then shouldn't I keep my identity hidden for as long as I can?"

Understanding flashed across the faces of the Hoenn natives, but Gold retained a cautious frown for a moment before his golden eyes widened slightly.

"That's actually a pretty good idea," Gold finally stated. "I should probably do the same thing. It's probably going to get me in trouble later, since I already have a Trainer license from Jhoto, but it'll keep us out of Magnus' eye for at least a little while longer."

"Maybe we should do the same thing," Brendan suggested.

"No, you guys are beginners. They probably won't think much of you guys showing up to take the League challenge now." Gold chewed on the eraser at the end of his pencil. "Now to come up with a good name...."

Crystal frowned, as well. If it meant that she was going to have an official name, she was going to have to make it one that suited her as well as her "family," especially if she was going to use it later on in other situations....

It didn't take her too long to figure out what she was going to do, and with that, the Mew clone started writing quickly in order to get through the form that was in front of her.


	7. Chapter 7

"All right. May and Brendan Birch, Gold Heart, and Crystal Soul have been registered." Nurse Joy gave a nod to the children in front of her, then pulled out four small cards and four thin cases -- one red, one blue, one silver with gold highlights, and one pink with silver highlights -- and placed them on the counter. The corresponding colors of the cards seemed to not only match the cases, but the pictures of the Trainers on them, as well.

"Thank you," Crystal stated, picking up the pink card and case. A curious frown came over her face. "But...what exactly is the case used for?"

"Trainers use those to hold Gym Badges they get," Brendan explained. "Kanto and Jhoto don't use them because they have their badges as pins rather than thin pieces of metal."

"Really?" Gold tossed his silver case up and down in on hand for a moment. "Well, this may actually make it easier to keep track of stuff. Pins can fall off of people's clothes if they're put on the wrong way, after all." A frown flitted across his face. "Although, this means that I'm going to need a backpack...."

"That can be easily solved," Nurse Joy responded readily. "The PokeMart here has some backpacks and other supplies that beginning Trainers may have need of, if they need brand new items that would be able to survive the journey."

Crystal's invisible ears stiffened upward in surprise. "Really? That's pretty handy." She looked over at the blue counter, and caught sight of the merchandise that was hanging on the wall behind the two people in blue aprons. One hand drifted to a pocket of her jeans and slipped in, gripping one of the two items that resided there. "I hope I have enough in order to get a decent backpack. It would be bad if I didn't."

Gold nodded in agreement. "I heard of someone who got a backpack from a bad manufacturer. They lost all their items when the bottom fell out in the middle of a jungle." He strode over to the counter himself, pulling out what appeared to be a wallet that was stuffed full of bills.

"Whoa!" Brendan dashed over to the Jhoto Trainer, eyes wide. "Where did you get all that cash?!"

"I paid a visit to a safe and broke into it before I left," Gold replied coolly in a quiet enough voice that the cashiers wouldn't hear. He reached the counter and placed a small stack of the Poke on the counter. "I'd like to have one of those backpacks, six Potions, and ten PokeBalls."

The two men standing behind the counter looked at each other in surprise, then back at Gold before scrambling to get the items the gold-eyed boy had asked for. In seconds, Gold was putting on a black backpack with red and gold stripes along the openings for the pockets and the seams.

"That's better," Gold remarked, shifting the backpack around into a comfortable position. "Now I don't have to worry about filling my pockets to the brim."

Crystal blinked in bewilderment at Gold's sudden actions, then remembered back to when she had worked with him in Jhoto and shrugged. Then she walked over to the counter herself and pulled out her wallet. While she didn't have as much money as Gold did, the Mewthree knew that she still had a pretty impressive amount from battling Trainers who had decided to challenge her and random acts of kindness.

"I'd like a backpack, five Potions, and ten PokeBalls, please," Crystal stated politely.

"Which backpack?" one of the cashiers asked, motioning to the wall behind him.

A slight frown flitted across Crystal's face, but she quickly managed to make her decision. The blond-haired girl quickly pointed out a dark green backpack with pink highlights and a shape embroidered on the smallest pocket in the front.

"You two seem to have good taste," the cashier praised, grabbing the backpack and pulling it down from its hook. "The backpacks from this line are made to be able to withstand most of what Nature can throw at them. Nothing short of an unexpected natural disaster will cause these things to rip apart."

"Well, I doubt that it'll come to that," Crystal replied with a light smile. She paid for her items, then placed the empty PokeBalls and the Potion bottles into separate pockets for easy access later. Then, after fingering the pink Mew silhouette on the pocket in the front with a light touch, she slid a backpack strap onto her right shoulder, so that Richie wouldn't have to be thrown off his perch from the other side.

May and Brendan, a little surprised at both Crystal's and Gold's actions when they bought their items, stood blinking in bewilderment for a moment before coming forward and requesting their items at once, simply going for the backpack and a small number of Potions.

"Wow, you guys really decided to go all out with your allowances, didn't you?" May asked when they had moved over to a table at the other side of the room. She experimented with the pockets of the yellow, belt-like backpack for a moment before snapping it on, most of the pockets at her back.

"I didn't think that you guys would have been able to afford going after such expensive backpacks so early on," Brendan agreed, sliding the one-strap, dark blue backpack onto his back. "I mean, Gold explained where he got all the Poke from, but what about you, Crystal?"

"Just because I didn't have an official Trainer license before doesn't mean I wasn't challenged to battles," Crystal replied, smiling lightly. She looked down at the three PokeBalls at her waist that contained the stronger members of her team. "Besides, I made it a point to help out people so much, that people started considering ways of paying me back."

The Mew clone considered adding some vague information about what she did between attacks from Team Rocket in Kanto and Jhoto, but decided against it. After all, the idea that Pokemon could form their own towns and manage to help each other out for such events would have to be pretty far-fetched to newfound Trainers who might not be able to understand PokeSpeak just yet.

"Well, I guess that makes sense," May remarked. "I mean, there are a lot of kids in the area who are given Pokemon by their parents so that they can learn how to be responsible."

"And prepare themselves so that they can travel around as a Trainer," Brendan added. He looked over the other members of the group. "So, what now? We can all travel together as a group, or we could split up and travel at our own paces while taking care of Team Magnus along the way. What do you guys think?"

"Well, we're going to have to do everything that Trainers would if they weren't us," May remarked. "Like Contests!"

"I am not going to follow you to that," Brendan replied dryly.

"Me neither," Gold agreed.

"I would like to try them, but at my own pace," Crystal admitted.

"I guess that settles it," Gold stated. "We'll split up and move along different paths." The Pikachu on his shoulder nodded in agreement.

"All right, then. I'll go on ahead." Brendan jabbed a thumb to his chest. "The Petalburg Woods are up ahead -- Ruby and I used to go there all the time in order to play hide and seek with Norman and his Pokemon. I know that place like the back of my hand."

"Yeah, but that's not going to help us when we're going against the Pokemon in there," May responded. "We're Trainers now, remember? Every single Pokemon in that forest is going to want to join us now."

"Or train with us," Brendan argued.

"Either way, we should get going." Crystal looked over at Richie, who looked back at her with a curious expression. "I'm going to have to expand my team, like Norman suggested, after all. I doubt I'm going to be able to survive with just Psychic-Types for my teammates. But I'm not picking up any Dark-Types -- that's for sure."

Richie shuddered a little, and Crystal nodded in agreement at the movement.

"Well, you have sixteen other choices besides Dark-Types, so you'll probably be fine," May replied. "I don't like Bug-Types myself, so I'm not planning on using them."

"I can handle bugs...somewhat." Crystal rubbed the back of her head, then looked over at Richie again. "We'd better get going if we're going to catch Team Magnus."

Richie cocked his head to the side. "You've mentioned them a few times. Why are you going after them?"

"They took something seven years ago that...." Crystal paused for a moment when she saw the other three watching. "...that was connected with the Mewtwo incident. Then people started to disappear half a year ago. Gold came to me and told me about Team Magnus and what he knew was going on, so we came in order to help."

Richie's red eyes blinked in confusion for a moment, but then he gave a nod, a determined expression coming over his face. "There are people disappearing because of this team? We should stop them."

"Exactly my thought." Crystal turned and started for the door of the Pokemon Center. "Come on. Let's go."

The Mew clone stepped out of the Pokemon Center and looked around at the area. The crowd that had been around before had long since disappeared, leaving Petalburg quiet and peaceful. Relatively, at least.

"You're hiding something," Richie murmured, frowning under his helmet.

Crystal looked over at the Ralts on her left shoulder. "You're right. I am."

"Why?"

"Because it don't want some people to know...a secret that I've been keeping for about seven years." Crystal's blue eyes gave Richie a curious look. "I'm willing to tell you, though, since you're a part of the team now. Alak, Ven, and Esmeralda already know about what I can do."

"They do?"

"Yeah. I'll tell you when we get out of Petalburg and we're alone."

Crystal started walking down the path that led out of the town, the Ralts hanging onto her tightly to make sure that he didn't fall off.

"You don't need to worry," Crystal replied, looking over at the nervous Pokemon. "If you fall, I will catch you."

"You will?" Richie looked at Crystal with a curious expression. He cocked his head to one side.

"I will."

Crystal had officially left the town, now, and was now walking through the trees that surrounded the city. The new-found Trainer could see what looked like water through the trees to her left.

 _We must be near the coast,_ Crystal noted thoughtfully. _I didn't realize that Petalburg was so close to the water._

Richie suddenly let out a gasp. "I heard you speak just now! But you didn't open your mouth!"

Crystal hummed. "It must have been because we're on such a close wavelength with each other, being part-Psychic and all."

"Wh-what?!"

"Sorry about startling you, but...." Crystal gave the Ralts a friendly smile. "You can sense there's something different about me compared to other humans then, right?"

Richie blinked for a moment, then gave a hesitant nod. "Y-yeah. You're...nicer. More open. I can feel your emotions more clearly than with the others around us."

"It's an ability of mine that I've had for a long time -- as long as I've been alive, in fact." Crystal hummed again, and she knew her tail was twitching in delight. She'd found someone who had managed to sense her initial ability -- without her even having to expend so much energy as she had for Esmeralda.

"And there's more to me than even any human you may have met so far," the Mew clone added.

"And it has everything to do with what happened seven years ago?" Richie asked, cocking his head to one side.

"Yeah, that's right." Crystal nodded slightly. "The Mewtwo project that I mentioned before."

"Mewtwo....?" Richie blinked for a moment. "What's that?"

"It's a...well, do you know anything about the Legendary Psychic Pokemon, Mew? The Pokemon said to be able to learn every attack in existence?"

"Mew?" Richie's eyes widened. "Oh! You mean the creature that the humans claim is a myth?"

"Right. I've seen two of them -- my older brother and sister, Catzin and Rosa."

Richie's eyes widened. "B-brother and sister? How?"

"It all goes back to seven years ago. Some humans decided that they wanted to take a piece of their fur and use it to create a new creature of sorts. The fur had already been shedded a long time ago, so they only suspected that it was Mew fur -- they didn't really know if it was or wasn't."

"Humans can do that?"

Crystal shrugged one shoulder. "I don't know all the details, but it seems that humans have the technology to do that. Anyway, they manage to make their original project -- the Mewtwo project I mentiond. You see, these guys were bad guys who only really cared about getting their own way. The Mewtwo project was planned by them to be some sort...secret weapon, I guess. But Rosa and Catzin managed to put a stop to it, and I helped!" Crystal gave an encouraging smile. "You see, I was another project of theirs, too."

"Y-you were?" Richie became confused. "B-but...you're not bad."

"No, I'm not. Because I was rescued and trained by people who are good guys. They helped me get stronger so that I could help take on the bad guys and help save my other brother from being forced to work for them."

"...other brother?"

Crystal gave a nod. "Mewtwo. But we call him Mythos." To further add to her explanation, she showed her little friend a picture of the aforementioned Pokemon using her memories. "See? This is Mythos."

"Whoa...." Richie's red eyes were wide. " _He's_ your brother?"

"Uh huh. He's actually really nice, and over-protective, too." Crystal chuckled. "You wouldn't believe how mad he was when he heard I went after our creators again when they tried to show themselves in another region. It seems that he doesn't want me to have to save him again."

"Really?" Richie blinked. "But..." The Ralts frowned. "How is it that you, the Mew, and...and Mythos are related?"

Crystal stopped walking for a moment, then looked around. She wasn't too far from the main path, but there wasn't anyone around that the Mew clone could see or sense.

"I'm hiding it right now," Crystal replied. "Watch the top of my head."

Richie blinked for a moment, then looked up at the top of Crystal's head. The Mew clone could see his eyes widen when her pink ears appeared -- seemingly out of nowhere. Then her pink tail appeared, as well, and she tapped Richie on the shoulder with it.

"Wow!" The Ralts looked at Crystal's tail, then up at her shining blue eyes. "You're just like that other girl I saw before the guy with the sandals found me!"

Crystal's grin faded, and she gave a frown. "Other girl....?"

Richie nodded. "Yeah. And she was really nice, too." The smile that was on his face disappeared. "But she wasn't really happy, though...it looked like she was lost."

Crystal gained an unsure expression. "Another girl...like me....I didn't think it was possible....." Crystal's unsure look became filled with worry. "There's something wrong with this. Rosa and Catzin would have sensed that there was someone else like me out there. But...I haven't heard anything about that from either of them, and I'm sure they would have told me." The Mew clone shook her head. "I probably shouldn't worry about it. I wonder if we'll run into her later?"

"I hope so. I want to be able to help her as much as I want to help you."

"So do I. If she was lost, then she may have escaped from Team Magnus and she could end up getting caught again and turned fully to their side." Crystal's eyebrows became knit together. "We're going to have to find her as well as find out as much as we can about what Team Magnus is doing. Maybe there's someone in the next town who will know something about what's going on even more than everyone else we've met so far."

"I hope so," Richie agreed. "Can we keep going now? I want to be able to see what's in the...the Petalburg Woods that the other humans mentioned."

Crystal gave a smile and a nod. "All right." Her ears and tail disappeared like they were dissolving, leaving her with the appearance of a normal human. "I want to be able to see what's in there, too."

Crystal started forward again, a light smile upon her face as well as on the Ralts' on her shoulder. Neither one of them took notice of a strange figure standing behind a tree nearby, watching as they walked further away from Petalburg and into the forest.

Nor did either one of them look back when said figure pulled out a strange, communicator-like device and murmur quietly into it, "This is the sub-alpha of the Poison unit. We have a new Trainer leaving Norman's territory and entering neutral ground. Be prepared to stop her at all costs. Be aware -- there may be others who have started journeys, as well."

_::Understood, Sub-Alpha. We will watch out for her and her possible companions::_

"Good." The figure gained a rather sinister look. "They will never make it out of our Poison Woods."


	8. Poison Woods, part 1

As soon as the trees started to become denser and their branches blocked out the sunlight, something told Crystal that something was wrong. The lighting was...different from the light that the Viridian forest received -- not friendly and inviting, allowing for travelers to wander for hours on end without feeling truly in danger...unless you ran into a horde of Beedril, that is.

It was almost as if...the leaves were turning the light _purple_ , which was impossible.

Richie shuddered and cuddled closer to Crystal's neck. "I hope we don't run into anything," he murmured. "I don't have any moves that will let me fight."

Crystal looked at the Ralts in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"I'm only Level 5, according to the human with the sandals." Richie looked around nervously. "And I only know Growl. I won't get Confusion for a while yet."

Crystal blinked for a moment upon hearing this. Richie...he was even more helpless than she was at first!

"Don't worry," Crystal stated calmly. "We'll figure something out. And I can help, too."

"Thanks, Crystal."

"It's the least I could do. You're a part of my team, after all." Crystal gave a delighted smile, but that quickly faded. "Right now, though, what we should be concentrating on is why the forest feels so strange."

"Strange....?" Richie frowned. "It's always been like this, as far as I can remember."

"With the purple lighting?" Crystal shook her head. "No. Something's wrong. But I can't really put my finger on it...."

Ahead of them on the path, something shifted in the bushes, causing Crystal to stop and stiffen a little. Her invisible ears went flat against her head, and her tail started to lash back and forth in anticipation of an attack that could come from that direction.

Richie became nervous. "There's something mean somewhere near here...."

"Mean how? Angry or grumpy?" Crystal didn't take her eyes off the bush, which was now starting to shake a little more frantically.

"I...I don't know. I can't tell. I just know that it's mean."

Crystal's eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing the Ralts' statement. She knew that there was something that felt wrong about this forest, and that would most likely affect the Pokemon that lived in it. That was how things were on the non-human, Pokemon Exploration half of the world, so it would most likely make sense in this situation.

The bush's rustling became even more fierce, and then a Pokemon bounced out from under its leaves and looked up at the human-like creature and the Ralts in front of him.

Crystal blinked in confusion for a moment, looking down at the green, umbrella-shaped Pokemon that was glaring up at her. "What kind of Pokemon is that? It doesn't look like anything that I've run into before...."

A beeping noise suddenly came from her pocket, and the blue-eyed Mew clone reached down and pulled out the noise-making device.

A deep green and black device with a pink Mew silhouette popped open, revealing two screens and a small number of buttons. The screens fizzled for a moment before shifting into a multitude of colors: the top screen showed a map of the region Crystal was presently in (how the device managed to succeed in doing that, the Mew clone would never know), with a blinking dot where Crystal was located. On the bottom screen, there was a picture of the Pokemon in front of Crystal as well as a small amount of text and other information.

_"Shroomish, the Mushroom Pokemon. It loves to eat damp, composted soil in forests. If it senses danger, it scatters spores from the top of its head to protect itself. These spores cause pain all over if inhaled. Despite this, Shroomish has been catalogued as a pure Grass-Type."_

"Spores...." Crystal frowned, then closed up her PokeDex and placed it back in her pocket, eyeing the mushroom-like Pokemon in front of her. "We're going to have to be careful, then. It could be that there are multiple Shroomish becoming agitated around here as a result of something that's going on around here."

"You think so?" Richie asked, nervous.

"Well, there's only one way to find out." Crystal got down on into a crouch and looked at the Shroomish, who was now starting to eye her warily. "Hi. My name's Crystal. Who might you be?"

The Shroomish eyed the Mew clone in front of her for a moment before speaking in a gruff tone.

"Have no name," the Pokemon muttered in male tones.

"You don't? Well, maybe I can come up with something for you. But I'm kind of worried about something else right now. It's the forest."

The Shroomish snorted, sending yellow spores up from the top of his head. "Something's wrong, all right. Humans like you have been bringing Pokemon in and causing trouble. I should finish you off here and now before you do anything else."

As soon as the Pokemon had spoken, his body started to seemingly expand as he squeezed his eyes shut.

"Stop!"

The Shroomish opened one eye and looked at Richie with an impatient expression. "Why?"

"Crystal's trying to _stop_ bad people! She's not like them!" Richie yelped, desperate. "She's like us!"

"Like us?" The strange, tutu-like appendage that went around the edge of the Pokemon's body fluttered as the Grass-Type went back to its original size. "She smells different, sure, but that doesn't mean that she's like--"

Crystal herself cut off the Pokemon abruptly by allowing her Mew ears and tail to appear. This caused the Shroomish's eyes to widen considerably.

"...us," the Pokemon finished in a surprisingly meek manner.

"These people who are causing trouble," Crystal stated quietly, having her ears and tail disappear again. "Who are they?"

"....." The Shroomish blinked for a moment before regaining his gruff manner. "Don't know. They're always wearing black, and they've got Poison-Types." The Mushroom Pokemon shuddered, shaking off yellow spores again.

Crystal frowned somewhat. "Poison-Types? Well, that explains the strangely oppressive atmosphere and the purple lighting." She looked over at Richie. "And the people in black...that must be Team Magnus."

"The bad guys you're looking for, right?" Richie guessed.

"Exactly." Crystal gave a nod, then looked over at the Shroomish. "Do you have any idea where any of them are?"

"Hard to say. They're hiding all over the place." The Shroomish's eyes widened a second later. "Scratch that. There's one behind you."

Crystal turned around quickly, not even getting to her feet, and her eyes widened marginally when she saw that the Pokemon had spoken the truth.

"Found the intruder," the figure clad in a black ninja suit stated to no one in particular. He stood there with one hand to his head, then gave a slight nod and brought it down to his side before grabbing one of the two PokeBalls at his side.

"They didn't tell me that there was another one like _her_ running around, but it'll be good to have another one like you to work with," the ninja stated in a wicked tone. "You probably don't even know how to use your abilities, do you?"

Crystal's breath caught. "Y-you saw --?" She shook her head, a frown appearing on her face as she did her best to hide her fear.

Richie sent her a concerned look as Crystal brought back her ears and tail, but his Trainer simply sent back a wave of determination.

"OK, so you saw," Crystal stated. "That means I don't have to hold back." She looked over at Richie, blue eyes showing an emotion that the Ralts hadn't seen before in his newfound Trainer. "Watch what I'm about to do, okay? And use Growl whenever you can -- I don't know how strong his Pokemon are going to be."

Richie's red eyes blinked in confusion, but he gave a slight nod in response.

"Good."

Crystal's eyes flickered to a brighter color -- they seemed to glow a bright, friendly violet -- and Richie suddenly felt himself get lifted up from Crystal's shoulder without the girl's hands even touching him. Within seconds, he was standing on the floor of the forest, not too far from the wild Shroomish who was still watching the proceedings with wide eyes.

Crystal got up to her feet, her tail lashing behind her as she stood in a crouch, facing the ninja who had snuck up behind her. "All right, you have my attention."

While the ninja's face was almost completely covered, his eyes were still visible -- as was the small amount of surprise that was held in them. That soon disappeared, however.

"So you know how to disguise yourself," the ninja stated with a shrug. "You must have discovered that after you were forced to leave your home. So what?" He tossed out a PokeBall, releasing a pile of purple goo with a pair of eyes floating near the top.

"Oooh, viiiictiiims," the pile of goo stated, opening a large mouth that looked wide enough to swallow Richie inside.

The mentioned Ralts retreated a step, suddenly nervous.

"Don't retreat from a fight, Richie," Crystal stated without looking back. "That's first lesson in a Trainer battle. We can't leave until all of his Pokemon on his team have been defeated. Understand?"

Richie blinked in surprise upon hearing Crystal's statement, then gave a slight nod. "Uh-huh."

"Good. You ready to help me fight? I'm going to need you to Growl at the Grimer in front of us, okay?"

Richie blinked for a moment, then pulled down on his green helmet. Then he released it and tilted his head back before letting out a barking noise in the direction of the Grimer, who flinched.

"Good job," Crystal praised.

The ninja snorted. "Like that's going to do anything. Grimer, use Sludge on the little weakling of a Pokemon! And hit the Grass-Type while you're at it!"

The Grimer reared back in response to the order, then spat out a glob of poison in the direction of the Shroomish and Richie. The Ralts let out a squeak of fear and pulled down on his helmet again while the Shroomish closed his eyes and did his best to turn away from the on-coming Poison attack.

But the attack never came.

Richie remained frozen for a moment, but then he peeked out from under his hook and stumbled back onto his rear end in surprise upon seeing the Sludge attack slammed against some sort of invisible wall.

"Barrier," Crystal stated, one hand open wide as the palm faced the air behind her. Her blue eyes locked with Richie's surprised red ones for a moment before she returned her attention to the Grimer and the ninja.

"Your fight is with me, not with my friends," Crystal stated, watching the ninja with narrow eyes.

The ninja blinked in surprise. "A normal Barrier isn't supposed to do that," he stated.

"You knew what I was and still say 'normal'?" Crystal blinked in confusion. "That...is a contradictory statement." She shook her head, then looked at the Grimer. "Your attack didn't do much when it hit my Barrier, meaning that you're still at a low level. It's been a long time since I used this attack, but...." The Mewthree took in a breath before bringing her left hand up to her left temple and closing the corresponding eye.

Richie felt the air seemingly ripple before the Grimer reeled back like it had been struck, it's eyes gaining swirls where the pupils normally were.

"Confusion," Crystal stated calmly, lowering her hand and opening her left eye again.

The Grimer attempted to stay in a relatively upright position, but failed miserably and collapsed into a shapeless puddle of purple goo.

Richie's eyes widened. "Whoa...." So that was the move he would be obtaining next? And his Trainer knew how to use it, too?

The ninja looked a little lost for words, considering how he nearly stepped back in shock upon seeing his Grimer defeated, but he quickly regained his composure and returned the Poison-Type to its PokeBall.

"All right, so you have some pretty strong defense and decent attack," the ninja sneered. "But that doesn't mean that you're going to be able to beat me."

Crystal decided not to respond; she'd already spent enough time talking. Instead, she contacted Richie.

_"Do you feel any different?"_

The Ralts stiffened a little upon hearing his Trainer's voice in his mind. "Different?"

_"Yes. Stronger."_

Richie's red eyes blinked in confusion. "Stronger?" A frown came over the Pokemon's face. "Not...not really."

 _"...I see."_ Crystal's stance shifted a little while the ninja brought out a second PokeBall. _"Watch me closely this time, and try to get a sense of the attack I'm using. You may be able to learn about my ability that way."_

"Oh? Uh...okay, then."

"Who are you talking to?" the Shroomish suddenly spoke up, sending an annoyed glance in Richie's direction.

The ninja tossed out his second PokeBall, releasing yet another Poison-Type: a Pokemon that appeared to be some kind of bat, only it had no eyes and no legs to be seen.

The creature let out a screech, causing Crystal's ears to twitch back a little in annoyance.

"Zubat," Crystal muttered aloud. "Are they taking Pokemon from Kanto and Jhoto and bringing them here, or are they native to the region, as well...?"

"Supersonic," the ninja stated. Richie thought that he sounded strangely smug. A second later, he figured out why.

The Zubat's already open mouth widened, and the Poison/Flying-Type let out a screech that caused the air to seemingly ripple. The noise grated against the Ralts' ears, and he let out a cry of pain and placed his hands over his ears as best he could. However, some of the noise still managed to sneak in.

Crystal wasn't faring much better. Her hands were practically gripping the top of her head and she was down on her knees with her head extremely close to the ground. Richie could barely sense her pain and panic through all the noise, and it made him worried, too. His ears couldn't handle this kind of sound!

Just then, Crystal herself sensed her new Pokemon's panic, and decided to do her best to calm the young Pokemon. She knew Supersonic was an attack that could not only temporarily remove the victim's hearing, but also scramble the other senses as an after-effect, leaving the victim with illusions -- or in utter confusion, as others called it. Even those who had faced the attack multiple times before weren't left unharmed.

And those previously affected but still harmed by future attacks included Crystal.

Feeling her hearing starting to leave her, Crystal acted quickly to ensure that there was still one chance that one of them was capable of fighting back.

Crystal threw one of her hands back, palm open to the Ralts. A blue bubble of energy formed over it, and shot out and surrounded the small Psychic-Type.

Richie took notice of the loss of noise a few seconds after the Protect had surrounded him. Cautiously, the small Pokemon removed his hands from his ears and looked around before seeing what was happening to his Trainer. Alarm passed through his eyes almost instantly.

Crystal was kneeling on the ground, one arm wrapped around the top of her head, the other open towards him.

"Use....Confusion," Crystal ground out while Supersonic still was going around them.

Nearby, the Shroomish was rolling around on his side, muttering something about good-smelling fallen leaves, but Richie pegged that was some sort of nonsense-dream.

The ninja behind the Zubat let out a dark laugh as his Pokemon released the sonic attack. "Do you really think that some weak Pokemon will be able to defeat my Zubat? You really _must_ be inexperienced in battle. That Confusion you used before must have been a fluke!"

Crystal shuddered upon hearing her opponent's voice and muttered something incomprehensible. Richie wasn't able to catch anything that his Trainer had said, but she was radiating pure _fear_ , and that put the Ralts on edge.

He knew that he needed to do _something_ in order to stop the bad guy from doing anything else to his Trainer.

The Zubat almost seemed to grin from where it was hovering. "Heh heh. You're weak, just like that kid who escaped."

Crystal flinched in response to the statement, but didn't move from where she had collapsed. Richie flinched, as well, but he knew that he couldn't just stand by and let the bad man get away with it.

The Protect bubble around Richie popped, and he realized that he actually _could_ do something.

The Ralts clenched his fists, then stepped forward and glared up at the ninja and the Zubat that had caused his Trainer harm. Already, he was starting to figure out how he would be able to save Crystal...and become stronger.

The ninja took one look at the little Pokemon and let out a burst of laughter. "Do you really think that you're going to be able to do anything? Ralts like you are notoriously weak -- especially when they have natures like yours and like to hide so they can't get stronger."

"Sh-shut up!" Richie barked in reply, not looking up at the ninja. "I'm...I'm strong, too! I can beat you!" The air around his head started to shimmer a little, and Richie raised his hands for a moment before throwing his hands forward, towards the Zubat.

The effect was instantaneous: a blast of energy went from the shimmering air around Richie's head and surrounded the Poison/Flying-Type, causing the Pokemon to flinch back. Zubat attempted to leave the circle of Psychic energy, but failed miserably as his wings were flinching all over the place as his mind was attacked. The Psychic attack soon ended, and the Poison/Flying-Type fell to the forest floor, knocked out.

Richie blinked in surprise when he saw that the Zubat had fallen, then smiled in delight. "Yes! I did it!" He jumped up in the air, raising his hands into the air.

The ninja who had been fighting them took a step back. "What? But that's impossible!"

Crystal let out a groan from the ground and started to get to her feet. "Good work...Richie...."

"Crystal!" Richie exclaimed, concerned. "Are you all right?"

"Nice...fertilizer...." the Shroomish sang quietly as he rolled back and forth. The Grass-Type went unnoticed by the others.

"I'm fine, Richie," Crystal replied. "Just a little...shaken." She paused and took in a breath before turning her gaze to the ninja in front of her. "Now, maybe you can tell us what's going on in this forest."

The ninja's eyes looked nervous, and his body was starting to shift back into the forest trees behind him. However, four seemingly-glass walls suddenly appeared around him.

Crystal moved her hand back. "You're not going anywhere until you answer my question," she stated. "What has been done to this forest?"

"L-like I'm going to tell you!"

"Oh, so now you show your true colors?" Crystal gave a dry smirk. "I've run into people like you before." The smirk faded. "You tell me what I want to now, and I'll let you go."

Richie quickly hurried to his Trainer's side and glared up at the ninja. "You'd better, or else I'll use Confusion on _you_."

Crystal's blue eyes moved down to the Ralts for a moment, then looked back at the ninja. "You'd better hurry. I don't want to cause anyone any more harm than I have to. I'm peaceable by nature, but when I'm provoked...." The Mew clone trailed off on purpose, causing the ninja's eyes to widen.

"L-look, I don't know much about what the higher-ups did," the ninja gulped in a very un-ninja-like way. "All I know is that they turned the Petalburg Woods into the Poison Woods."

"Poison...." Crystal's eyes narrowed slightly. "I thought there was something wrong with this place. Is there any way to dispel it?"

"Maybe?" The ninja shrugged. "I'm just a grunt." He looked around at his invisible prison. "...I-I've told you everything that I know. C-can...can you let me out now?"

Crystal seemed to consider the statement for a moment, but she already had something in mind. Her eyes locked with the ninja's, and he stiffened instantly...then collapsed to the ground.

Richie blinked in confusion. "Wh-what...what did you just do?"

"I used a move called Hypnosis and put him to sleep for a while," Crystal replied calmly. She waved a hand, and the air around the ninja seemed to shimmer. "I don't want him to know where we go to next in this forest, after all." The Mewthree looked around for a moment before pausing and looking over at the Ralts. "Keep what I said in mind. I don't like to bring harm to others unless I absolutely have to, and Pokemon battles under usual circumstances don't count."

Richie nodded, looking somewhat embarrassed. "Y-yeah. Right. Sorry, I was...um...." A frown appeared on his face, and his Trainer guessed that the Ralts was trying to figure out what he should say next.

"Caught up in the heat of the moment?" Crystal offered.

Richie's face brightened. "Y-yeah! That's right!"

Crystal chuckled a little at the Ralts' reaction to her suggestion. "Be careful, little one. Keep my advice in mind -- we aren't the kind of Pokemon and Trainer pair who go around and threaten people without reason. I would be alarmed if you actually _liked_ that sort of thing, considering how you were when we met a few hours ago."

Richie looked somewhat embarrassed, then looked down and held his hands together. "Yeah...." He looked back up at his Trainer. "So, what now?"

"Now, we look for more people like him in order to find a way to reverse their effect on the forest," Crystal replied. "He may not have known, but others in the area might."

"I want to help, too!"

Crystal and Richie blinked for a moment before turning to look over at the mushroom-like Pokemon who had finally stopped rolling around on the ground in a Confused state.

"Are you sure?" Crystal asked, frowning. "Grass-Types like yourself are usually considered weak to Poison-Types."

"Are you kidding? I've got Stun Spore on my side, and I can produce a pretty mean Poison Powder, too!" The Shroomish jumped up in the air and landed in an excited state. "Besides, this is my forest, not yours! What gives you the right to go romping in it without my permission?"

Crystal blinked in confusion for a moment, considering the little Grass-Type's statement. She really hadn't been expecting him to volunteer so suddenly like that, but then again, they might need a guide of sorts.

"All right," Crystal stated, nodding to the Shroomish. "You can come with us. We're going to need a guide through this forest in order to find all the people who are causing your forest trouble."

"No problem!" The Shroomish turned around and started walking through the forest. "Come on -- finding them isn't going to be too much of a problem with our network!"

Richie and Crystal looked at each other for a moment, then shrugged and followed after the little Grass-Type, disappearing into the bushes and off the main path of Petalburg Woods.


	9. Poison Woods, part 2

Crystal's new Shroomish friend was certainly right about the network that his kind had in the forest.

The problem, though, was what the invading humans were _doing_ to it as a side-effect of what they had done to the forest.

"This isn't good," Crystal murmured as she looked over a fainted Shoomish with concern. "If Pokemon that can produce spores are being affected in this way, then how are the other Pokemon in the forest being affected?"

"And...what's gonna happen to us?" Richie piped up from near Crystal's feet. "I don't wanna get poisoned!"

Crystal nodded, concerned, as well. "It's something that we'll have to keep in mind. If any one of us start to feel sick, let me know, and I'll Teleport all of us back to the Petalburg Pokemon Center, okay?"

"O-okay."

"Thanks for the offer, but I think we'll be fine," the Shroomish stated calmly. He hopped over to a tree and landed on the leaves that surrounded the trunk. "See this? This is like a banquet to Shroomish. Lotsa fertilizer. But the trees turned bad, made leaves turn bad, made every Shroomish get nasty stomachache." The Grass-Type stuck his tongue out in annoyance. "I haven't been able to eat in _days_ thanks to that."

"So the poison is in the trees?" Crystal looked at the tree behind the Shroomish with a critical eye, then walked over to the tree and stopped mere inches from it. Her blue eyes seemed to glow a bright, luminescent blue, and a slight frown came over her face. "I don't sense anything that could be wrong with it...."

"It's not _in_ the tree, silly -- it's _on_ it! The bad humans have been coming through and spreading poison like paint. So much as touch it, and it'll be bad news."

"Then...why are you standing on the leaves?" Richie asked while Crystal backed away from the poison-covered tree.

"I'm a Shroomish! I can stand on stuff like this -- I just can't eat it." The little Pokemon jumped up and down on the pile of leaves a few more times before hopping off and waddling towards Crystal and the Ralts. "Those bad humans can handle it too for some reason. I dunno why."

"It could have something with the fact that the one we ran into used Poison-Types," Crystal noted. "The others could, too." The Mewthree thought for a moment, her tail twitching before her expression brightened. "Maybe, if we find their leader, we could force them to turn the Petalburg Woods back to normal!"

"Doubt it," Shroomish snorted. "But if you wanna try, go right ahead."

"And in order for us to find the one responsible...." Crystal reached down to the PokeBalls at her waist and fingered one of them thoughtfully. "Should I call on the rest of my team to see about finding them faster...? Or should I just continue acting as though I only have Richie?" The girl's blue eyes moved to look down at the Ralts. "What do you think? Because it certainly isn't going to be easy."

Richie blinked for a moment, looking uncertain. "You're asking me?"

"Well, why not? You're a part of the team, now. Everyone's opinions count."

The Ralts looked up at Crystal with wide, awed eyes, then frowned as he considered the options that Crystal had laid out for him. "Is it really that important to pretend that you only have me?"

"Outside of the forest, at least, yes. If I'm going to go through the League challenge without attracting too much attention, then I'm going to have to pretend to be a beginner Trainer and work my way up. That way, no one really knows that I'm in the region...except Team Magnus, maybe." Crystal instinctively glanced up as her ears twitched before fading from sight, her tail doing the same thing after a second-long delay.

"But...that guy back there didn't know who you were," Richie pointed out. "He didn't think that you were...well...." The Ralts paused, looking even more uncertain.

"That I'm the same person who took down Team Rocket both times?" Crystal guessed.

"Y-yeah, I guess so."

Crystal hummed thoughtfully, and removed her hand from the PokeBall she had been fingering a moment ago. "You may have a point there. If I continue to pretend that I don't have Pokemon that are stronger than you, then maybe I'll be able to make them think that the one who helped Gold in Littleroot is hiding out somewhere, while I'm standing right under their noses! It'll let me review some of my older skills, as well."

"Older skills?" Richie blinked in confusion.

"You'll see what I mean." The Mewthree hummed with delight at the thought that she would be able to go back and use the old skills that she had learned in the past, then continue forward and review everything that she had been taught -- maybe even learning new skills along the way.

After all, as a human who was part Mew-clone -- and technically a Legendary, as well -- it was a given that she would be able to retain knowledge from her previous levels without being forced to revert herself to her previous level. She could simply fake it she decided to reveal herself.

"Okay, now that that's settled...." Crystal looked around at the purple, poison-covered trees around them. "We're going to need to find more of those ninjas if we're going to find out how to remove the poison before it harms the Pokemon further. I'd hate to see what would happen if this were to go on unchecked."

The Shroomish at her feet gave a nod. "Those ninja humans aren't going to be easy to find, I think. I haven't seen a human of that Type before."

Richie cocked his head to one side, his red eyes blinking in confusion. "Humans have Types?"

"Not so much types as...well, as jobs," Crystal commented carefully. "I think all humans are considered to be the same Type."

The Shroomish gave a huffing noise. "Well, that's no fun." The Shroomish looked around the purplish forest for a moment, considering what was around them. Crystal took more of the movement hand frowned slightly.

"Is something wrong?" the Mew clone asked.

The Shoomish eyed the Trainer, raising an eyebrow at the girl's statement before turning to look out into a nearby clearing. Curious, Crystal followed his gaze.

Standing in front of some sort of machine-like object with their arms crossed over their chest was another ninja. Like the other ninja that they had run into before, this figure was covered from head to toe in black fabric, leaving just the eyes exposed. However, this ninja was a little different in the fact that there was some sort of emblem on their chest: a circle of dark purple with two large drops of what looked like water, except they were colored neon purple instead of blue.

"That's a common symbol for Poison-Types," Crystal commented, frowning. "He may have stronger creatures at his disposal than the last one we faced."

"A-are we going to fight him?" Richie asked, looking up at his Trainer.

Crystal considered the Ralts' statement, then gave a slight nod. "We probably should. Then he might be able to explain what that machine is doing behind him." The Mew clone started forward, the Ralts and the Shroomish moving quickly in order to stay close to the girl as she revealed her ears and tail.

They broke out of the trees and came to a stop a few feet away from them, and Crystal folded her arms across her chest while Richie moved to stand to his Trainer's right while the Shroomish planted himself to her left.

The ninja's eyes flicked over to Crystal and locked with her blue eyes for a moment. Almost instantly, the ninja moved into a crouching stance of sorts and threw something at Crystal. The object didn't get too far, however, because the red and white sphere promptly popped open and released a familiar-looking purple blob.

"Another Grimer...." Crystal frowned, then looked down at Richie. "Do you think you can take him on?"

The Ralts looked up at Crystal with a nervous expression in his red eyes, but then he gave a slight nod, a determined expression appearing where the nervous one had been. Then he moved in front of Crystal and stood in a slight crouch himself, nervousness radiating off him in waves.

"Don't worry," Crystal murmured behind him. "You'll be able to do this. That Pokemon is weak to attacks like Confusion."

Richie gave a slight nod. "R-right. Should I move now, then?"

"Yeah. Take him out as soon as you can."

"O-okay." Richie braced himself, the air shimmering around him as he started to build up power. The little Ralts then launched his Confusion attack at the Grimer.

The Confusion move hit the Poison-Type blob dead-on, resulting in the thing reeling for a moment, its body starting to loose any semblance of a shape. However, the Pokemon was able to right itself and regain the stupid grin that had been on its face at the start of the fight.

"It...it didn't faint?" Richie asked in confusion, frowning. "B-but the Zubat -- it --"

"The Grimer must have better defense, or else it's level is higher than the Zubat's was," Crystal commented, dropping her arms to her sides. "Another Confusion should be more than enough to take care of it."

Richie blinked for a moment, looking up at Crystal before nodding and returning his attention to the Grimer...which suddenly reared back and fired a glob of poison from its mouth.

"Eep!" Richie jumped out of the way of the coming attack while Crystal sidestepped the Sludge easily. The glob of poison landed behind them and started to hiss, sending a slight chill down the Mew clone's spine.

"That's no ordinary poison," Crystal noted, glancing back at the glob that had almost hit her and her Pokemon. "It's possible that the Grimer was pulled off a Muk and has some of it's evolved form's more poisonous tendencies." She looked back at the Ralts in front of her. "We're going to need to take it out."

"Yeah." Richie braced himself again, but before he could fire of another attack, the Grimer sent another Sludge attack in his direction, forcing the Ralts to scramble in order to avoid getting hit. "I can't concentrate, though!"

"You have to focus," Crystal gently berated the Pokemon. "Keep moving and try to focus on taking out the Grimer."

Crystal could sense that Richie was absolutely _panicked_ at the thought of her not helping the Ralts, but there wasn't really anything that she was planning on doing at this point -- this was an honest-to-goodness Trainer battle, and the little guy was going to have to get some experience if he was going to be able to fight in later battles against actual Trainers and not just Team Magnus -- which these ninjas most certainly were a part of.

Richie started moving from side to side, doing his best to avoid the incoming Sludge attacks from the Grimer. The Ralts was having a difficult time of it, but managed to avoid most of the poisonous projectiles...until Richie was nearly hit full-on by one of them, but managed to move so that he was only hit on his left arm instead.

It was that attack that finally got the Ralts to snap and focus.

"That's enough!" Richie yelled, the air around him shimmering for a moment. Almost instantly, the same effect happened around the Grimer as well, and the Poison-Type collapsed into a shapeless puddle.

Crystal got down into a crouch, and Richie quickly scrambled over to his Trainer.

"Good job," Crystal approved, smiling at the Ralts. "Nothing feels wrong, does it?"

"No." Richie shook his head, smiling slightly. "I feel fine."

"Well, that's good." Out of her peripheral vision, Crystal saw the ninja return the Grimer and pull out another PokeBall. "Do you want to take a rest? Or do you want to keep going?"

"Um...I kinda want to sit out." Richie looked a little embarrassed to be asking that of his Trainer. "Do you think you could --"

"It's fine," Crystal responded easily, smiling. "You did well for your first fight completely alone. Just know that I won't be able to do this all the time." The Mew clone got up to her feet and moved in front of the Ralts as the ninja tossed out his second PokeBall, releasing another Grimer which bobbed up and down for a moment on the grass before settling and reaching out with grubby, dripping hands.

"Another Grimer?" Crystal considered the Poison-Type in front of her, then set off her Confusion attack. She didn't even need to reach up to her head this time -- the air shimmered around the Grimer before it flinched back and collapsed into its puddly, shapeless form.

The ninja returned the Grimer wordlessly and placed the PokeBall at his belt, next to the other red and white sphere. The man then paused, his hand twitching a little bit as they hovered over the two spheres at his side. The hand dropped a moment later.

Then the ninja did something that Crystal hadn't expected: he charged at the Mew clone.

"What --" Crystal quickly moved to the side, picking up Richie as she moved while the Shroomish scrambled out of the way in order to avoid getting stomped on by the man.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Crystal demanded, turning in order to face the ninja while her tail twitched as a result of her startled, agitated state. "The fight is over!"

The ninja didn't answer, instead getting into a stance that clearly said he was planning on lashing out and hitting the Mew clone. However, the expression in his eyes never changed.

"Something feels wrong about him," Richie murmured in a fearful tone from where he was held in Crystal's hands. "Everything's hazy."

Crystal's blue eyes shot down to the green helmet. "Hazy...?" She looked back at the ninja and frowned, her blue eyes taking on a glowing hue to them.

Over the years, Crystal had found that Aura Sight was quite the helpful ability, especially when she encountered Pokemon that needed help but either weren't sure if they should ask for it or downright refused to because of the idea that they could handle their problems themselves. When she confronted the Pokemon with whatever problem they were facing and explained how she knew before offering her help, the Pokemon would usually allow her to assist in some way.

It was in this way that Crystal learned not only to truly feel the emotions of others, but also _see_ them in a Pokemon's -- or person's -- aura.

And the ninja's aura was producing quite the conundrum -- the aura that was being produced made it seem as though the ninja was practically brain-dead, which couldn't have been true if he was up and moving around. So there must have been some other problem that caused the man's aura to act this way, and it didn't look like Crystal was going to be able to get any answers out of him if he was so set on attacking her.

So, when the ninja rushed the Mew clone again, intent on grabbing her, Crystal easily avoided his outstretched hands and knocked him over the head with a clenched left fist. The ninja instantly collapsed to the ground with a dull _thud_.

Richie let out a sigh of relief, and Crystal felt the Ralts' body relax as he snuggled into the crook of her right arm. "Thanks. He was scaring me."

"Yeah. He scared me too a little bit," Crystal commented. "Someone with that low of an aura should have the brain power of a plant, so he shouldn't have been moving. At all."

"So a human like him isn't normal, huh?" The Shroomish waddled over to the ninja's feet and nudged them a little bit. "Think he's dead?"

"No!" Crystal glared at the Grass-Type. "All I did was knock him out. There's no way that a hit from me like that could have killed him."

"Besides, we don't do stuff like that!" Richie added, giving his own glare to the Mushroom Pokemon.

"Okay, okay!" The Shroomish scowled. "I was just making a joke...sheesh." He turned his attention to the strange machine that the ninja had been standing next to a moment ago. "So what are we gonna do about that thing?"

Crystal followed the Pokemon's gaze, her glare now softened into a curious frown as she looked over the strange device that was sitting in the clearing: it looked like some sort of box that was completely covered in buttons, switches, and strange flickering lights. One button in particular had the same emblem that the ninja had on his chest: the purple circle with the poison drops.

"What is this thing?" Crystal murmured to herself, frowning as she circled the machine.

"I don't like it," Richie murmured quietly. "It looks creepy."

"Yeah, it definitely does look creepy," the Mew clone agreed, nodding absently. She came to a stop in front of it again and frowned at the emblem. "Well, what do you think we should do with it? It doesn't look like it's doing anything to harm the forest, but it must have something to do with Team Magnus, otherwise it probably wouldn't even be here."

"I say you kick it into little pieces!" the Shroomish declared from behind them.

"What's the point in doing that if we don't know what the consequences are going to be?" Crystal glanced back at the Shroomish. "We don't know if this is going to release poison into the air or directly into the plants. It could do nothing at all, but...." Her blue eyes moved over to the unconscious ninja lying with his face in the dirt. "He might know." The Mew clone put the Ralts down and strode over to her former opponent.

"Wh-what are you planning to do?" Richie asked, moving after Crystal.

The Trainer got down into a crouch next to the ninja' supper body, slipping one knee underneath her while leaving the other one up. "I'm going to see where he was and what he was doing before arriving here -- when we ran into him." Crystal reached out with her left hand over the ninja's head, eyeing the unconscious man with a cautious expression.

"Y...you can do that?"

"Any good Psychic can," Crystal replied, glancing back at the little Pokemon with a slight smile. "The trick is figuring out how. I discovered this ability back in Jhoto, so the trick is more fresh in my memory than my other skills." She turned her blue-eyed gaze back to the ninja, then placed her left hand on the ninja's black cloth-covered neck and closed her eyes.

It took a moment for the memories from the ninja's mind to come into focus, but Crystal's eyebrows soon bunched together in a confused frown -- the ninja's mind was hazy and unfocused, and Crystal was certain that she was focused enough to spot even the tiniest of details in other people's minds. Fuzzed-up words flitted past Crystal's mental ears, but the girl was unable to figure out what was being said...other than that the ninja was absolutely dead-set on following those orders.

_This is almost like...._

Crystal's eyes snapped open when realization crossed her face, and she scrambled back from the ninja a short distance.

"What's wrong?" Richie asked, instantly moving to his Trainer's side. "Did he do something to you?"

"N-no, he didn't," Crystal replied with a shake of her head. "It's what has been done _to_ him that surprised me."

"Done _to_ him?"

"Yeah." Crystal gave a shaky nod. She opened her mouth in order to say more, but then the ninja let out a groan.

"Ooh, man...anybody get the number of the truck that hit me?" The ninja pushed himself up off the ground, rubbing the back of his head. He cloth on his face started to shift with his face, and his eyes showed that he was in pain. He looked around for a moment, then, blinking in confusion at the purple forest. "And were am I?"

Crystal's blue eyes widened further upon hearing the man's statement, and she was quick to cause her ears and tail to disappear so that he wouldn't notice them. The Mew clone was just in time, because the ninja turned his head to look at her, and his dark eyes widened in surprise.

"Hey -- where are we?" the ninja asked, getting into a sitting position with his legs crossed. "I don't know of a place that looked anything like this."

"This is the Petalburg Woods," Crystal replied as calmly as she could, but she still sounded somewhat nervous.

"Petalburg...? That can't be right -- I live in Fallarbor." The ninja frowned. "And why do I have this _thing_ over my face?" The man grabbed at the mask and yanked it off, revealing dark green -- almost black -- hair and equally dark brown eyes in a young-ish face that certainly did not have any baby fat on it whatsoever. Crystal suspected that the man in front of her was probably somewhere in his mid-twenties.

"What do you remember?" Crystal prompted, thinking that a question like that might help refresh his memories a little more.

The man blinked for a moment, then frowned. "I...I remember being offered a job by this masked guy with a weird-looking Pokemon, then...." The dark eyes narrowed as the frown deepened. "I can't remember anything after that."

Crystal frowned. Well, it looked like she wasn't going to be able to get anywhere using that. "Well, just a minute ago, you were attacking me with those two Grimer, and when Richie and I defeated you, you kinda lunged at us."

The man looked surprised. "Really?" He looked down at his belt, where the two PokeBalls clearly sat, the knocked out puddles of poisonous goo lying inside. A frown flitted across his face. "I'm known as the only Grimer tamer back at home, but...these two don't feel _right_ somehow."

"You can tell?" Crystal was surprised. She didn't think that there was someone out there who would be able to tell if there was something wrong with a Pokemon just by looking at them. "How?"

"Well --"

The man was cut off suddenly and doubled over, gripping at the emblem that was on his chest while he clenched his teeth. At the same time, the machine behind them started to rattle.

Crystal turned her head sharply when she saw the machine shaking, then looked back at the dark green-haired man for a moment before reacting in the way that she thought was the best way to alleviate the man of his pain.

"Aura Sphere!"

_BAM!_

The machine exploded into pieces as soon as a glowing blue ball of energy launched from Crystal's hand hit the rattling device. At the same time, the man went from repressing yells of pain to gasping for breath, leaning over the ground as his whole body shook.

Crystal quickly ran over and looked the man over, concerned for his well-being.

"Hey!" the Shroomish yelled. "What do you think you're doing?! That could be a ruse to set a trap or something!"

"This man has been under a Hypnosis spell!" Crystal shot back at the Mushroom Pokemon. "He bears no ill will to us."

The man took in a few deep breaths, each one becoming less ragged than the previous one. "Hypnosis, huh?...I guess that explains...the blank spot in my...in my memories." He started to sit upright, but he was unable to keep himself in that position for long; instead, he fell flat on his back, on hand over the emblem, which Crystal now noticed was smoking.

Cautiously, Crystal lifted the man's hand, then grabbed hold of the Poison emblem and pulled up. The man gave a hiss of pain in response, but did nothing to stop Crystal other than tightly grip her arm as she yanked off the emblem.

The Poison emblem came up reluctantly at first, but then it came flying up suddenly, sending Crystal rolling onto her back with the object clenched in one hand. The Mew clone didn't go far, because the dark green-haired man still had her arm tightly clenched.

Crystal looked at the item she was holding, and her eyes widened when she saw four metal prongs sticking out from the side of the emblem that had been against the man's body. "What kind of people put _this_ on a person?!"

"That looks scary...." Richie shuddered.

Crystal thought the same thing, and tossed the device back to rest among the destroyed pieces of the machine that she had blasted a moment ago. "Team Magnus is insane."

"Magnus?" The dark green-haired man, who was in the process of sitting up, looked startled. _"Magnus_ did this to me?" He motioned to the ninja outfit as Crystal nodded nervously. The man let out a curse and slammed a fist into the grassy ground. "I didn't think they had moved that far north! I need to get back home!" He quickly scrambled to his feet and started to look around the forest before looking back at Crystal. "Thank you for bringing me back to my senses, miss...?"

"Crystal Soul," Crystal replied.

The man gave a nod. "And I am Eros. Thank you, Crystal. I am in your debt." Eros gave a bow, then turned and dashed off into the trees.

"Does he know how to get out of the forest?" Richie asked, looking up at Crystal.

"I don't know...." Crystal frowned after the man. "He must trust his natural instincts if he just runs off like that. I hope he doesn't run into anyone from Team Magnus." The Mew clone got to her feet, turning and glancing back at the destroyed machine. "That seemed to be causing the pain, but...why? Is it connected to the emblems somehow?"

"How should I know?" The Shroomish behind her growled.

"I wasn't asking you," Crystal replied, looking over at the Grass-Type. Then she heard something shift behind her, and the Mew clone turned quickly in order to see what it was that was happening behind her.

The emblem was rattling, shaking back and forth as though it was trying to get up and roll around on its own while the four metal prongs retracted into the emblem. When the item had finally stopped shaking, the prongs were gone.

Cautiously, Crystal walked over and picked up the emblem with her left hand, careful not to let her hand touch where the prongs had been.

"Such strange technology...." Crystal frowned. "I wasn't aware that something like this existed."

"Admiring my disciplinary tools, are you?"

The Mew clone stiffened upon hearing the unfamiliar female voice, and she turned her head in order to find where the source of the voice was. It didn't take her too long in order to find the person who had spoken.

"It's strange that you managed to release one of my subordinates without being poisoned yourself," the woman continued, stepping out of the purple shadows.

Her outfit consisted entirely of clothing items with different shades of purples and blacks, with black boots, dark purple skinny jeans, and a purplish shirt with black stripes running along the arms and underneath them to the woman's waist. Her hair was a bright, dangerous red, held up in a ponytail by a light purple ribbon that fell down to her shoulders, and the woman's eyes were a strange, almost luminescent yellow.

"Poisoned?" Crystal repeated in alarm. She looked down at the emblem, then at her arms to see if there were any puncture holes that the aforementioned dangerous liquid could have gotten into. Relieved to see that there weren't any such holes in her skin -- or any strange purple markings that might have suggested poison -- the Mew clone returned her attention to the strange woman, her blue eyes narrowing. "Why would you do something like this to the other people in your team?"

"To keep them in line." The woman's voice slid out of her mouth with a strange ease, almost like the words themselves were liquid. "Like with a Pokemon team, you have to keep a team of men in line, do you not?"

"You don't use poisons in order to do that!" Crystal snapped back. "You make allies out of them, not pincushions!" She waved the Poison emblem around, as though that was proof enough. "If Trainers would treat them the way you suggest, then they would see their Pokemon as nothing more than _toys!_ I can't _stand_ to see people like that with Pokemon!"

Out of the corner of her eye, Crystal saw Richie flinch back for a moment, then regain his composure and call out in agreement. The Mew clone suspected that she had scared him as a result of her angry outburst, but then he had gained confidence in himself when he realized that Crystal wasn't in a mindless angry state -- her anger was directed at something that was _wrong_.

However, the red-haired woman simply laughed and looked almost pleased with Crystal's outburst. "You're one of those Trainers who runs with the old way, aren't you? One of those people who claim to be able to hear the hearts of Pokemon and speak with them as though she is one? I had thought that old way of training had died out with the new generation."

"I've lived with older Trainers and their Pokemon for a long time. I don't consider that way old."

The redhead gave a strange purring noise. "Oh, really? Well, I ought to warn you that the old age has long since passed. I am part of a new generation of Trainers who can get closer to Pokemon than ever before...and control them, as well." She lifted a hand and held it out, palm flat, before purring again.

When the woman purred this time, Crystal realized that the purr wasn't a verbal tic. This was a purr she had heard before only a few times, and this one was from a particular species of Pokemon that was known for catching their prey in poisonous traps....or when they were out flying, that is.

Crystal remembered right then and there where she had seen yellow eyes like the woman's before. She had been wandering in a jungle on Rukario's half of the world when the Mew clone had seen a strange Pokemon with two sets of wings had flown past, chasing after a bug Pokemon that Crystal had been unable to get a good look at. She hadn't really been able to see the predator Pokemon too well, either, but the Mew clone later discovered what Pokemon it was when she was confronted with it by a member of the Neo-Rocket group.

"You're part Crobat, aren't you?" Crystal asked, frowning at the woman. Gold had mentioned that Team Magnus had been looking for specific people with Typing like that of Pokemon, but they still retained their human form. Maybe this woman was one of the people who had been pulled into Team Magnus' clutches?

The purring stopped, and the redhead gave a malicious smile. "How could you have ever guessed?"

"Your eyes. I've seen ones like those before."

"And you are not afraid? How commendable. But that will not help you against the Pokemon I have at my disposal." The woman threw her arms out wide, and almost as though she had summoned them, four Pokemon appeared: a blue scorpion that buzzed and chirped in a hungry way; a Grimer, which constantly released poison blobs as it moved about; a a small creature that looked (and smelled) like a trash bag that had been given life; and a Zubat, which flitted over to the woman's right shoulder and landed there like it was its usual perch.

"For I am the Poison Queen, Lauraina!"


	10. Poison Queen Lauraina

_Poison Queen?_ Crystal frowned at the red-haired woman in front of her while the four Pokemon that had crawled from the underbrush moved in between the Mew clone and Lauraina. _Shouldn't be too much of a problem, since Richie and I are Psychic-Types._

"Richie, are you ready?" Crystal asked the Ralts next to her. "You and I are going to be fighting together, okay?"

The Ralts looked up at Crystal with wide, red eyes. "Together?"

"Like I'm gonna have you fight all of them by yourself."

Lauraina let out what sounded like an amused purr. "How amusing. A Trainer fighting alongside her Pokemon? This will make it all the more easy to get rid of you."

Crystal frowned in confusion upon hearing the woman's statement, but then she realized a moment later that she hadn't revealed her ears and tail to her opponent. Since she had already shown them to the ninja she had first run into, Crystal decided that she may as well reveal herself here as well.

But this time she was going to do it a little differently.

"Confusion on my signal," Crystal murmured quietly. "I'll take the garbage bag. Which one will you be aiming for?"

"Um...the Grimer, I guess."

Lauraina looked amused. "You? Taking on my Trubbish? This I'd like to see.

"All right." Crystal nodded down to the Ralts next to her, then looked over at the garbage bag Pokemon. Trubbish, huh? Seemed to fit.

 _"On my count,"_ Crystal murmured, sending it telepathically into Richie's mind while reaching up to her left temple. _"One...two...now! Confusion!"_

Crystal sent out a wave of Psychic energy in be concentrated form of a lightning bolt to the Trubbish, while the air around Richie's and the Grimer's heads shimmered. The Mew clone thought it was interesting that her Ralts was using Confusion like it was some kind of sound attack, and figured that it was because Richie had seen Supersonic.

The garbage bag lashed back when Crystal's attack hit, and the creature spun around on one little foot, its garbage-made arms flailing in the air before the little Pokemon collapsed with the sound of a wounded whoopie cushion. At the same time, the Grimer flailed about, putting its gooey hands to its proverbial ears. It nearly lost its shape, but the Poison-Type managed to pull itself back together at the last minute and settled into its strange grin.

Lauraina's sinister grin faltered when the Trubbish collapsed. "What?"

"Hey! Food!" the scorpion Pokemon chittered. "What did you do?!"

"I felt sonic waves," the Zubat remarked. "Interesting way to use Confusion."

Lauraina ignored the both of them, turning sharply to glare at Crystal. "What did you just do to my Pokemon? I didn't even see you move!"

"You're at a disadvantage," Crystal noted, a calm, expectant look on her face as she cocked her head to one side. "Didn't you see what I did to the machine before?" She motioned to the pile of metal rubbish behind her and Richie. "If you did, then you should have expected that attack on your Pokemon." ****

Lauraina's fists clenched, and Crystal saw the woman's shoulders stiffen up. The Zubat on her shoulder let out a chitter of alarm, but it didn't fly from its perch.

"What are you?" the redhead hissed.

Crystal didn't even need to open her mouth to answer; she let the appearance of her ears and tail do the talking for her. As the Poison Queen's yellow eyes widened, Crystal stated, "Do you really think I was going to stand by while Team Magnus kidnapped people and forced them to work as a part of their organization?"

Lauraina's jaw tightened, and Crystal could see the anger blazing in the woman's luminescent eyes. "Gold. I knew I should've pulled him in line when I had the chance." She leapt forward over the Grimer and scorpion Pokemon in front of her, reaching out while snarling, "And you will not step any further beyond where you stand now!"

Crystal started to move in order to get away from the woman, but she only succeeded in getting just her left arm grabbed instead of both of them. The Mew clone could feel sharp fingernails digging in through the fabric of her pink jacket, and she cried out when a sharp pain filled her entire arm.

Acting on instinct, Crystal lashed out with a spear of Psychic energy that was even stronger than the Confusion attack she had used on the Trubbish. The Psychic attack caused Lauriana to let out a sonic scream -- but not a Supersonic attack -- as she pulled her fingernails out of Crystal's arm and was thrown back as a result of the Mew clone's attack; however, she managed to land on her feet in front of the Grimer and the scorpion Pokemon, panting with a crazed smile on her face that showed a pair of fangs in her upper jaw.

"Toxic," Lauriana stated triumphantly, her fingernails dripping a dark purple liquid from their tips.

Crystal's blue eyes widened, and she looked down at her left arm, where five neat holes had now been made in her jacket. That arm was now throbbing, but not as much as when Lauraina had dug her fingers in.

However, Crystal knew _that_ was going to change unless she did something about it.

"You've never been poisoned before that I know of," Lauraina purred, flexing her fingers as the poison continued to drip out of her nails. "I would like to see what would happen to someone from our kind when they were hit with an attack like mine."

Crystal turned her attention to the red-haired woman in front of her, grabbing her left arm in the exact place where Lauraina had dug her fingernails in. The pressure from her left hand caused the pain to flare up a little, making her flinch.

Beside her, Richie let out a worried coo at seeing his Trainer in pain.

Crystal glanced down at the Ralts for a moment, then looked back at Lauraina, who was grinning wickedly at the Mew clone. "Richie, you take care of the Grimer and the scorpion Pokemon. I'll handle Lauraina and her Zubat. Don't worry. I'll be fine."

Richie looked up at Crystal worriedly, red eyes filled with concern, but upon seeing the pained, determined expression on the girl's face, the Ralts turned to look over at the group of Pokemon in front of them.

Crystal's eyes narrowed slightly as she glared at Lauraina and the Zubat on her shoulder. Her brain started to go into overdrive, building up Psychic energy for the Mew clone to make use of. She activated her Aura sense, as well, allowing for Crystal to get a better look at what exactly she was up against.

What Crystal saw wasn't exactly what she had expected.

True, Lauraina was technically a combination of human and Poison-Type DNA, but Crystal hadn't expected her opponent's aura to contain the same dark and menacing qualities as the Skuntank that Rukario had always had so much of a problem with! She said that her abilities were gained from a Crobat, but the woman's aura seemed to claim that she was related to the Skunk Pokemon species.

Crystal quickly shook the thought out of her head. Despite the signals that were being sent from her Aura, Lauraina clearly wasn't part Dark. And even if she was, Crystal was pretty certain that, other than the poison-inducing danger, Lauraina wasn't actually all that much of a threat to the Mew clone.

In which case, Crystal decided to use some of the techniques that she had come across during her travels, but had never been able to train to a complete level of mastery. The blond-haired girl started to gather together energy, causing her skin to tingle a bit. Visible sparks ran over the teen's form right before shooting out as Crystal called out the attack's name:

"ThunderShock!"

A weak stream of electricity shot up into the air above Crystal's head, then fell back down and connected with Lauraina and the Zubat on her shoulder. Once again, there came a scream from the so-called "Poison Queen," but it wasn't at the same strength as a Supersonic -- or the scream that had erupted from her as a result of the Psychic attack.

The Zubat, however, let out a loud shriek of pain as the electricity ran from Lauraina's body and into the Pokemon's.

Crystal soon let the power in the Electric attack run out, breathing heavily as a thin sheen of sweat appeared on her forehead. Her right arm was throbbing more painfully, now, and the pain had started to work its way into the rest of her body -- already, the Mew clone's shoulders were in pain.

"You're a Psychic-Type!" Lauraina protested, electricity arcing across her arms while the Zubat on her shoulder looked like it was trying to hang on as tightly as it could. "You shouldn't be able to use Electric attacks!"

"I may be a Psychic-Type...but I'm also half Mew," Crystal stated. A shiver passed through her, as though her body was feeling cold. "I don't see why I can't learn whatever moves I want, even if they're not to my advantage."

At that, the Zubat let out a soft, pained cry, and fell off Lauraina's shoulder and collapsed on the grassy ground. The Pokemon didn't move again, clearly fainted.

"Being Level 50 helps," Crystal added off-handedly. The Mew clone started to breathe heavily, still holding onto her right arm.

Lauraina's yellow eyes widened. " _Fifty?"_

"Take this! Stun Spore!"

"Confusion!"

Lauraina and Crystal glanced over in the direction of the two voices, and the sight they saw caused an expression of relief to cross Crystal's face.

"And that's for poisoning my home, you morons!" the Shroomish yelled at the two unconscious forms of the Trubbish and the scorpion Pokemon. They were covered in some kind of bright yellow powder that Crystal recognized as a Stun Spore.

"Good job, guys," Crystal approved. She looked back at Lauraina and winced when pain flared up in her neck. "Now, how do we turn this forest back to normal?"

"I wouldn't ask me those questions until you had managed to beat me," Lauraina replied. Her face and posture looked calm on the surface, but her eyes betrayed her -- the bright yellow showed that she was nervous.

"Confusion." Crystal sent forward her mental Psychic-Type bolt of energy, slamming it into the redhead.

The woman reeled back as a result of the connection, and she ended up falling onto the grass before grabbing at her head and crying out.

"What about the poison in this forest?" Crystal demanded, not moving from where she was standing. "How do we get rid of it?"

Lauraina snarled as Crystal's psychic attack did its work. "There's a device...in the forest somewhere. Destroy that, and all my work at making this forest into the paradise it is will be destroyed."

"Paradise?" The Shroomish snorted. "You've got a sick mind, lady! This place is a death trap!"

Crystal nodded in agreement. "Shroomish, do you think you could find the device for me? I'm going to see what I can do about the poison." She squeezed her right arm and winced when a wave of pain moved up to her neck and down through her right leg.

The Grass-Type looked up at the Mew clone with an expression of determination. "Don't worry! I'll find it!" He turned and dashed off into the bushes, calling out something as the Shroomish disappeared into the forest.

As soon as the Petalburg Forest native was out of sight, Crystal's legs collapsed from underneath her, and the Mew clone landed on her rear on the grass.

Richie let out a cry of alarm. "Crystal!" The Ralts dashed over to his Trainer with a concerned expression on his face. "You're hurt!"

"I know. Lauraina poisoned me when she dug her fingernails into my arm." Crystal could feel the sweat on her forehead starting to bead up and roll down her face; her body was fighting the infection even as she spoke. "I've faced status effects before, though. I know how to counteract something like this." Crystal closed her eyes tightly as another wave of pain passed through her, and she shuddered. "I just hope I'll be able to use it in time."

"Use what?"

Crystal ignored the Ralts' question, and she started to concentrate on building up energy in order to use a technique that she knew. When she had built up what she thought was enough, the Mew clone turned the energy on _herself_ as she gritted her teeth and barked out a single word.

"Refresh!"

Instant _pain_ radiated throughout Crystal's right side and across her shoulders and up her neck as the energy she had built up went to work on the infected areas of her body. Crystal tried to hold in the yell that tried to come up as a result, but this kind of status malady wasn't something that she had faced before -- burns, yes. Frozen limbs were a certainty as well, considering what had happened in Jhoto. But poison, like Lauriana had suspected at the start of the match, wasn't something that Crystal had truly ever faced before.

And it _hurt_ to get it out of the Mew clone's system.

"Crystal!" Richie exclaimed in fear, watching his Trainer flinch as she let the energy do its work. The Ralts wanted to do something for Crystal, but he was still at a weaker level -- there wasn't really anything all that much that he could have done that would help the Mew clone get better faster.

Crystal gritted her teeth as she squeezed her eyes shut even tighter. The feeling of this kind of pain brought up a few darker memories from the back of her mind -- back from the beginning of her existence, when Team Rocket had been attempting to find some sort of use for her. When she had escaped from them with Blaine's help...feeling the dog-like Pokemon with the curled horns bite into her as the poison bit into her now....

A shudder not induced by the pain ran through the Mew clone. If any of those specific Dark-Type Pokemon lived in Hoenn, Crystal was _not_ looking forward to running into them. She'd already had more than enough of them in Jhoto.

Because of the pain now rushing through Crystal's systems, the sound of her own blood pumping at high speed blocked out a lot of other noises that might have been made around her -- like Richie calling out her name. However, she _did_ notice a shift in the general atmosphere of the forest. It was almost as though something had lifted up the oppressive atmosphere.

The resulting shockwave hit Crystal in the stomach and caused the pain to flare up for a moment before fading to a dull throb that left her entire body aching. The Mew clone fell forward a little, and she shot out with her left hand and caught herself before she collapsed on the grass, breathing heavily from the exertion it took to expel the poison from her body.

Richie let out an anxious coo and moved over to Crystal worriedly, looking up at her with concern clear in his eyes.

"You're not still poisoned, are you?" the Ralts asked worriedly.

"No...I don't think so...." Crystal took in a few breaths, and her face shifted into a grimace as she pushed herself back to an upright position...only to fall flat on her back.

"They're over here! Come on!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming...."

Upon hearing the familiar voices, Crystal raised her head and caught sight of a few familiar figures appearing out of the trees -- which now looked more like regular trees than they had a second ago.

"Gold? Ethan?" Crystal asked upon seeing the Jhoto Trainer and his Pikachu.

"You didn't think that we were going to stay behind you for long, did you?" Gold replied, coming over to the collapsed Mew clone. "The Shroomish told us you were poisoned."

"Key word being 'was.' I think I managed to get rid of it, but I wasn't prepared for the backlash I received from trying to dispel the Toxic attack."

"Toxic?" Gold's bright eyes widened, and he quickly scrambled to take his backpack off and go digging through it. "Here. I found some ripe Pecha Berries on a tree nearby. This'll help you recover faster." He held out the pink Berry to Crystal, and she managed to get herself up into a sitting position so that she could accept the food item and swallow it down.

Crystal took the Berry in her right hand and took a bite, becoming pleasantly surprised by the taste. "This tastes sweet." The Mew clone quickly ate the rest of the small fruit, licking her lips to see if she could catch any of the remaining juices.

"How did you end up getting poisoned?" Gold asked.

"A woman named Lauriana...she stabbed me --" Crystal showed Gold the stab wounds in her left arm "--and I managed to take her out with a ThunderShock and a Confusion attack."

Ethan's ears went flat against his head. "That witch," he hissed. "She was here?"

"Yeah. She's right over --" Crystal turned her head to look over at where Lauraina had been lying on the grass, only to stop short when she saw that neither the woman nor the four Pokemon she had brought with her were there. The only thing that might have shown that there _was_ someone there was a circle of purple, poisoned grass.

"Looks like she made her escape when you weren't watching," Gold stated grimly. He walked over to the patch of poisoned grass and circled it for a moment, both the Trainer and the Pokemon on his shoulder glaring down at the purple circle.

"What is it with you and this Lauraina person?" Strike demanded. Crystal jumped a little upon hearing his voice, but then when she saw the Electrike sitting next to the Shroomish, she remembered that Gold had picked up the Electric-Type from Professor Birch, and her body relaxed somewhat.

"Lauraina is a member of Team Magnus, the group we're trying to hunt down," Gold stated, pausing in his pacing and looking over at Strike. "She's one of the two that was personally raised by the people who make up the team."

"She was?" Crystal's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Then why didn't she put up more of a fight against me? If they were aware of her abilities they would have...." The Mew clone paused at a memory from back at the beginning of her life. "...They would have tried to train her as much as they could have, wouldn't they?"

"I think they had her concentrating more on support tactics and controlling the release of her poison than actual attacks," Gold admitted. "Poison Pokemon tend to be more crafty about that than others, and I think they were trying to take that into account and train her with her personality in mind."

Crystal gained a nervous expression. "Still...if she was one of the two that Team Magnus themselves trained...what does that say for everyone else?"

"I think we'll find out sooner or later," Gold replied. "Something tells me a lot's happened since I left them. If Lauraina is able to use Toxic now, when she was struggling with it before...I think we could end up running into some major trouble with the rest of Team Magnus. I'm going to have to expand my team beyond just Strike and Ethan."

"And I'm going to need more than just Richie," Crystal agreed, nodding. "I had already decided, but I don't know what sort of Pokemon to find and bring along."

"What about him?" Richie pointed to the Shroomish, who looked at the Ralts in surprise.

"Me?" the Grass-Type asked in surprise. "You want me to come with you?"

"I like you," Richie replied with a hopeful tone of voice. "I'd kinda like to have you come along with us." Richie looked at Crystal with a curious expression. "Can he come with us? Please?"

"Well, it's his choice," Crystal replied, nodding to the Shroomish. "I won't take anyone from their home without knowing it's okay first."

The Shroomish blinked a couple times upon hearing that. "You wouldn't mind if I didn't?"

"I wouldn't. But Richie might. It sounds like he's quite fond of you."

The Mushroom Pokemon looked over at the Ralts, who looked back at the Shroomish with a pleading expression. The Grass-Type gained an uncertain expression upon seeing the look in Richie's eyes, and he frowned before turning to look away.

"This place is my home," the Shroomish stated with a determined expression. "I'm not going to leave just because you guys want me to come with you on some team."

Richie deflated when he heard that, and he gained an expression that made him look like he was about to cry.

"But if these guys that you're looking for are causing trouble, then they've gotta be stopped before they poison another forest and kill a bunch of other Pokemon."

Richie looked up when he heard that. "You mean it? You'll come with us?"

"Don't think that it's because you asked," the Shroomish responded, glancing over at the Ralts. Richie seemed to think otherwise, however, because the little Pokemon dashed over and slammed into the Shroomish and tried to give the fatter Pokemon a hug.

Crystal chuckled, watching the two Pokemon interact before shifting her backpack around so that she could get at its pockets. She dug around for a moment before pulling out a red and white sphere and putting it on the ground in front of her.

The movement caught the Shroomish's attention, and the Grass-Type glanced over at the PokeBall.

"Go ahead," the Mew clone offered. "This'll make our partnership official, so that the other Pokemon Trainers won't try to take you when they see you with me. You can still travel around on foot if you want, but I'm going to need a PokeBall for you."

The Shroomish looked skeptical at the idea.

"It's okay," Richie spoke up. "It's really a comfy place to go to sleep in. And you don't have to stay in it all the time."

"Yeah, I get it," Shroomish muttered. "But I'm going to want a name in exchange for this."

"I've been considering a name for some time," Crystal replied. "Just touch the PokeBall and go in and out, and I'll tell you what I think would be a good name for you. All right?"

The Shroomish gained a skeptical expression, then hopped forward and bopped against the PokeBall. The red and white sphere promptly popped open, causing the Grass-Type to get sucked inside in a flash of red light.

Crystal watched patiently as the ball wriggled around, as though what was inside was trying to get out. But then there came a hollow tone, and the ball stopped shaking...just seconds before the Shroomish came flying out.

"All right, so I'm a part of your team now," the Grass-Type stated impatiently. "What was that name you were thinking about giving me?"

Crystal gained a thoughtful expression, but it didn't take her too long for a name to surface.

"I was thinking of calling you...Samuel," the Mew clone finally stated. "What do you think?"

"So long as you don't call me anything other than that," the newly-named Samuel replied quickly.

"All right, then." Crystal gave a slight smile. "Samuel it is."

"Now that you have that settled, I should probably find myself a friend around here," Gold commented. He looked down at Strike, then at the Pikachu sitting on his shoulder. "Come on, you two. May and Brendan are probably looking around already for Pokemon they may want to befriend."

Strike gained a bored expression while Ethan gave a nod.

Crystal grabbed Samuel's PokeBall and started to get up to her feet. "Gold, you wouldn't happen to have any idea as to where the exit is, would you?"

"The exit?" Gold looked over at the Mew clone in confusion for a moment before realization crossed over his face. "Oh! You mean the way to the next town? It isn't actually all that far from here. There was a machine blocking the way a moment ago, but I destroyed it so that we could keep going. That's when your friend found us." The Jhoto Trainer motioned to the Shroomish, who shifted a little bit out of embarrassment at the attention he was getting.

"Really?" Crystal clipped the Grass-Type's PokeBall to her waist. "Then it shouldn't be too hard to find." The Mew clone looked down at her two Pokemon. "You guys ready to go, then?"

Richie nodded. "Yeah!"

"Yeah, sure." The Shroomish attempted what looked like some kind of shrug, but it was impossible to tell with the Pokemon, considering that it was shaped like a giant mushroom and had no shoulders.

"Then let's go." Crystal turned and started for the bushes that lead out of the clearing, pausing to look over at her friend. "Thanks for the help, Gold. If you hadn't gotten here in time, I don't know what could have happened to me."

"That's what friends are for, right?" Gold replied evenly, smiling in return. The smile quickly turned into a smirk. "You'd better hide your ears and tail before May and Brendan catch up with us. You wouldn't want them to figure out what you are right now, would you?"

Crystal's blue eyes widened. "Oh, yeah, you're right! Thanks for reminding me!" Her ears and tail disappeared from sight, but the Mew clone knew that they were still there. Then she looked down at her two Pokemon -- who were right behind her -- and gave a nod and a smile before taking off into the forest again.

"No problem!" Gold called after her.

**Spacial Break -- Change in POV**

Lauriana gritted her teeth in annoyance and let out a hiss as the two figures and four Pokemon disappeared from sight in two different directions. "Those idiots...I was so close to getting a nuisance out of the way, and she just had to be the Primal one, and you just _had_ to show up and stop me!"

Yellow eyes turned and glared at an annoyed pair of deep blue eyes, which gave the impression that the owner of the blue eyes didn't exactly want to be there.

"Look, the guy who snapped this on me _told_ me to come and get you before things got too far out of hand!" One hand pointed at a glittering gold collar covered in jewels; they all clearly looked fake. "I wanted to leave you to Gold, but _no._ "

"Shut up!" Lauraina held a poison-dripping finger close to the other girl's neck. "I can and will poison you with this."

"And I'll automatically be forced to defend myself; what's your point?" The blue eyes hardened into even more annoyance. The other figure opened her mouth as though to speak, but then she winced, pink ears flattening against her head. A low growl escaped her throat.

" _He_ wants to talk to you," the girl ground out. _"Now."_

A fearful expression crossed over Lauraina's face, but before she could respond, the two of them disappeared in a flash of light.


	11. Wonderful Flowers

Crystal's invisible ears twitched, and the teen glanced back at the dark forest, a confused frown coming over her face.

Richie stopped as well, letting out a confused and worried coo. "What was that?"

"What was what?" Samuel asked, stopping in his tracks a little bit ahead of them.

"For a moment there, I thought that I sensed something back in the forest," Crystal commented, frowning as she scanned the area behind them: the restored Petalburg Woods and what looked like the smoking remains of some kind of machine, the only thing technically left in one piece being a large emblem with three Poison drops on it.

"...Well, whatever it was, it's gone now." Crystal sighed and shook her head. "I wonder if it was Rosa checking up on me. The power of the being I sensed couldn't have been anyone else." She turned and looked at the path ahead of them, which lead out of the forest. "If Rosa is here, she'll probably show herself later to us. Come on -- let's see what's beyond the forest."

Crystal started moving forward, stepping out of the forest and into the light beyond, Richie and Samuel following right on her heels.

The late afternoon sun shone down from the sky as Crystal stepped out onto the path beyond the Petalburg Woods. There was a smell of flowers in the air as the sunlight bounced off a nearby small lake, making the entire area have a strange, calming feel to it.

Crystal took in a breath of air through her nose and smiled. "Wow. I never thought that flowers could smell like that!"

"Where do you live?" Samuel demanded, frowning up at his new Trainer.

"Kanto. They have their cities a little closer together there than they do here, I think." Crystal started moving down the path, her invisible tail twitching with delight at the wonderful smells that she was discovering.

"You're right about that -- we wouldn't be able to survive properly there if we decided to set up shop in that region!"

Crystal stopped moving in surprise, Richie and Samuel moving quickly to stand in front of the Mewthree in a defensive manner. The trio looked around, trying to find the source of the voice.

"Over here, Trainer!"

Crystal turned her head towards the flowers, and she caught sight of three figures -- a woman, a teenage girl, and a young girl probably no older than seven.

"You don't look like you're from around here," the woman commented, looking over at Crystal with a curious expression. "Did you come from Kanto recently?"

"Just this morning," Crystal responded, nodding.

"Oh! You must be exhausted, then!" The woman rushed through the flowers, the watering can in her hand sending water droplets all over the grass and brightly-colored flowers. "Come with me -- our house is not far from here. Our dinner is most likely fully cooked by now."

At the mention of food, Crystal's stomach growled loudly, and the teen gained a sheepish expression.

"Food sounds nice," the Trainer admitted.

The woman gave a nod. "I thought so." She turned and looked at the teenage girl and the seven-year-old still standing among the flowers. "Daisy! Rose! We're going to have some guests tonight!"

"Yay!" the younger of the two girls' exclaimed, raising her arms in the air. The little watering can in her hands splashed out its contents over her head.

Crystal laughed at the girl's enthusiasm before turning to look at the woman. "My name is Crystal Soul, and the two Pokemon out with me right now are Richie and Samuel." She motioned to the Ralts and the Shroomish. "I do have three other Pokemon with me, as well -- an Alakazam, an Espeon, and a Venasaur."

"Say _what_?" Samuel yelped in surprise from below.

"And I'm Daphne," the woman responded with a nod, grass-green eyes bright. "Most people around here call me Daffodil, though." She smiled at the nickname, making Crystal wonder if she was called that because of the flowers that were around them.

"A Venasaur?" The teenage girl started over, her light brown hair bouncing on her shoulders. "Can I see it?"

Crystal blinked in surprise at the question. "Well, it shouldn't be too much of a problem...." The teen glanced back at the forest for a moment. "...But there may be some people still around that I don't want to reveal his presence to."

"What do you mean?" asked Daphne, frowning.

Crystal paused for a moment, considering the questions and how much exactly she could tell the trio.

"It's...a long story," Crystal stated cautiously. "But it's got a lot to do with the people in this area who are troubling you guys -- Team Magnus."

Daphne paled as soon as she heard this. She grabbed Crystal's arm and started to pull her away from the Petalburg Woods, stating quickly, "Come inside -- we can talk more freely in our own home."

Daphne led Daisy, Rose, Crystal, and her two Pokemon into a small stretch of trees that went along one side of the lake. It didn't take them too long to reach a small clearing, where a white two-story building was located. The group soon disappeared inside.

Crystal looked around the area as Daphne shut the door behind her, the click of a lock clearly clipping the air. "This looks like some kind of flower shop."

"It's ours!" seven-year-old Daisy exclaimed, giggling happily.

"We sell flowers and Berries to those who ask for them for the sake of their gardens," Daphne explained, coming over from the door. "Most people nowadays don't ask for flowers, but when a wedding takes place in the area, we are the ones they come to first."

"It smells really nice in here," Richie commented from where he stood at Crystal's feet.

"I'd like to see the fertilizer they use," Samuel commented, licking his lips.

Richie gave the Shroomish a slightly disgusted expression. "Ew!"

Crystal chuckled. "Oh, you two."

"So, what exactly is it that makes you not want to bring out your Venasaur, Alakazam, and Espeon?" Rose spoke up suddenly.

The Mewthree looked over at the brown-haired teenager and blinked a couple times before letting out a sigh. "Like I said before, it's because of Team Magnus. I came here because I heard about what was going on, and I wanted to help. But I don't want them to know about the stronger part of my team unless I really need them, which won't happen so long as they think I'm just another Trainer."

Rose frowned. "Why would you want them to think that?"

"To surprise them." Crystal shrugged. "I don't want them to know that I can be powerful when I need to be."

"Really?" Daphne looked interested at this as a frown came over her face. "You said that your name is Crystal...you wouldn't happen to be the same who appeared in Jhoto, would you?"

Crystal gave a slight nod, then stiffened in surprise when Daphne suddenly enveloped her in a hug.

"Thank you for stopping them from moving out beyond Jhoto!" the woman exclaimed. She backed up and looked at Crystal with delight in her eyes. "My sister in Goldenrod told me what happened and what she heard about what had happened in the Radio Tower."

"That was more of Gold's doing than mine," Crystal commented in an embarrassed manner, scratching the back of her head out of embarrassment. "Really, you don't have to give me all the credit."

Daphne chuckled. "That may be true, but you still deserve some of it."

"You said that you have your Pokemon from then with you, correct?"

Crystal glanced over at the teenager when she heard her voice. "Yeah, that's right."

"Why don't you leave them here?" the girl suggested. "It'd leave your team open so that you could capture more Pokemon at the rate of a regular Trainer."

Crystal looked at her in surprise, then frowned. "I don't want to be a burden--"

"You have a Venasaur." The brown-haired teenager stated as though Crystal was an idiot. "It won't be a burden."

"Ven is a he," Crystal corrected smoothly, "and Kaz is, too. Esmeralda is the only girl Pokemon that I've managed to befriend and bring onto my team so far."

Daisy let out a delighted squeal while the teenager -- Rose, the Mewthree remembered -- glared at Crystal in a huff.

Richie tugged on one of Crystal's pants legs, causing her to look down at the Ralts.

"What is it?" Crystal asked softly.

"You want to make more room, right?" Richie asked quietly. "To make sure that they really see you as a beginner and not someone with strong Pokemon?"

Crystal's blue eyes blinked a couple times out of surprise upon hearing the Psychic-Type's statement. Then she looked over at Daphne for a moment before looking back down at her two Pokemon. "That was the general idea, but I don't want to cause too much trouble."

"Bring them out and ask them what they think," Richie suggested calmly, a strangely serious look on his face. "You like to ask Pokemon stuff, right?"

Crystal's eyes quickly widened in realization, and she gave a sigh and nodded, a slight smile coming over her face. "That's right. I guess that I nearly forgot for a second there."

"Well, try not to forget it again, right?"

"Right." Crystal turned to look at Daphne. "Do you have any sort of area that might be able to allow me to let my three Pokemon out without doing any sort of damage to your home or causing us to attract any unwanted attention?"

"There is a clearing behind the house that hasn't been disturbed," Daphne commented with a thoughtful expression. "The trees are so thick here, I doubt that anyone else knows about it."

Crystal gave a slight smile and a nod. "That should do nicely." She fingered three PokeBalls that were positioned on her waist. "My team should stretch their legs after being left in their PokeBalls all day, anyway. Is there a back door?"

"Of course."

Daphne led Crystal through the shop and a storage room smelling of fertilizer and dirt before exiting the building through a back door, Daisy, Rose, Richie, and Samuel on their heels.

Samuel let out a satisfied sigh as the group stepped out into the clearing behind the house. "That smelled wonderful."

"To you, maybe," Richie muttered, scowling while holding his paws to his nose. "That stuff smells yucky!"

Crystal chuckled. "It's all a matter of opinion." She looked over at the three figures looking at her curiously -- well, Daphne had an amused expression on her face -- and the Mew clone explained, "Samuel prefers the smell of your fertilizer much more than Richie does. I'm guessing that it has something to do with the fact that he's a Shroomish."

"Shroomish are known to eat fertilizer when given the chance," Daphne noted with amusement. "Some Venasaur, as well, if they feel like they have a need for it."

"Really? I don't think that Ven's ever done something like that." Crystal fingered three PokeBalls on her belt for a moment, there gripped all three of them. "Well, only one way to find out."

Daisy let out an excited squeal while Rose glowered, muttering, "About time."

"All right, you three," Crystal stated, looking down at her PokeBalls. "You can come out."

The three red and white spheres popped open at once, releasing the three Pokemon from their confines in blasts of light that solidified into Pokemon of various forms.

Esmeralda shook out her pink fur and let out a yawn. "That's got to be the longest I've ever been in a PokeBall before!"

 _"I've been in one for far longer,"_ Kaz noted, looking over at the Espeon for a moment before letting his gaze wander around the clearing. _"It seems we are in the company of strangers."_

"These are Daphne, Rose, and Daisy," Crystal stated, motioning to each person in turn. "They've offered to take care of you guys for a while so that Magnus doesn't catch me using you in the middle of a battle when I run out of the others." She motioned to Richie and Samuel, who were staying close to her feet.

Ven cocked his head when he caught sight of the Mushroom Pokemon staying close to Crystal, and an amused look came over his face.

"Another Grass-Type, Crystal?" the Venasaur asked, chuckling.

"Richie wanted him to come along," Crystal responded. "Samuel gave us a lot of help earlier today."

 _"And it is nearly nightfall,"_ Kaz noted, glancing upward at the sky. _"How far did you travel today, exactly?"_

"We went through Petalburg and the woods after it," Crystal responded. "I stopped because Daphne invited me to dinner."

There came a low growl from the Trainer's stomach.

"...which we haven't had yet."

Daphne let out a gasp and slapped herself in the forehead. "I completely forgot! I'll be right back!" She quickly dashed into the building and disappeared from sight.

"This place smells so nice!" Esmeralda exclaimed in purring delight, romping about in the grass happily.

Daisy let out a laugh. "She's pretty!"

The Espeon stopped prancing and looked over at the little girl before romping over to her. "And you're absolutely adorable!"

Crystal gave a laugh as Esmeralda curled up against Rose, who giggled delightedly while the Espeon purred. "You two look pretty cute together."

Kaz hummed in response; Crystal thought he sounded somewhat amused.

 _"What now, then, Crystal?"_ the Alakazam inquired. _"I assume that you kept us inside our PokeBalls even when I sensed danger for a reason."_

Crystal blinked a couple times. "You could sense when I ran into Lauriana?"

_"An aura like that is hard to miss -- especially when Red faced against people with similar auras...but they didn't feel as malevolent as this 'Lauraina' did. It was almost as though she was part Poison."_

"What are you talking about?" Rose asked, frowning and putting her hands on her hips. "Who's this Lauraina person?"

Crystal turned to look at the teenager, blinking for a moment before realizing what exactly it was that she and Kaz had been talking about out loud in front of people who didn't exactly know what was going on.

Ven sighed and rolled his eyes. "Kaz, you really shouldn't have gone public with that."

 _"As we are presently in Hoenn, and the entire region knows of Team Magnus, I doubted that they would not know anything about the opponent Crystal faced,"_ Kaz responded without bating an eye. _"I also assume that you brought us out here for a reason, correct?"_

Crystal nodded. "I don't think I'm going to be able to let you guys give me help without sending a red flag to Magnus. If we're to do what Birch suggested and have us get through the region without them suspecting who exactly I am until its too late, then I can't bring you guys with me."

Esmeralda stopped frolicking with Daisy and looked at Crystal in bewilderment before turning to look at Ven and Kaz. Looking back at her Trainer, she asked, "Does that mean we have to split up?"

Crystal gave a slight nod in response to the Espeon's question. "Yeah. That's right."

Ven gave a slight frown, cocking his head for a moment before giving a nod himself. "Makes sense. Even if we fought in the Gyms only, we'd be getting a lot of attention."

 _"I concur,"_ Kaz agreed, nodding in agreement. _"However, this will mean that we will need to hide until we are needed to combat them. What do you suggest?"_

"You could stay here!" Daisy called out, smiling. "Pokemon are always welcome, right?" She looked over at Rose, who had strayed close to the Venasaur, looking up at the flower on his back with no small amount of admiration.

"Yeah," Rose agreed, not taking her eyes off Ven.

Crystal was about to open her mouth and respond to this, but then her statement was interrupted by Daphne calling from the back door of her house.

"Dinner's ready!" the woman called out in a delighted, relieved tone.

Crystal's stomach growled again, and she looked down at herself while Esmeralda let out a laugh, causing Daisy to join in.

"I guess it's about time, huh?" Crystal asked, looking up at the others with an embarrassed expression on her face.

**Time Break**

"So, you would like to have your Pokemon stay here for a while?" Daphne repeated, looking at Crystal with a surprised expression.

"If at all possible," Crystal replied. "If you don't have the room or can't handle three Pokemon with such high levels, then I can probably go back to Littleroot and have Birch keep an eye on them for a while."

"It won't be a problem at all!" Rose stated quickly, looking up from her bowl of soup at the Kanto Trainer.

The group was sitting outside on the grass, surrounded by the flowers that were planted in the hidden backyard of Daphne's home. Ven, Kaz, Esmeralda, and Richie were lounging nearby, digging into some Pokemon food that Daphne happened to have on hand. Samuel was a short distance from them, practically rolling in fertilizer and getting disgusted looks from the Ralts every time the Shroomish tried to get one of them near him.

"Rose, this isn't your decision to make," Daphne stated, not unkindly.

"Well, it's not like you're going to turn her down, are you?" The teenager looked smug, almost as though her statement had proved her point.

Daphne gave a slight sigh, almost as though what her daughter had said was something that had happened before. "There's going to be a lot of Pokemon food involved, Rose, and I doubt that we're going to be able to keep them hidden for long."

 _"We are more than capable of finding food on our own, if need be,"_ Kaz spoke up, looking over at the humans sitting on the grass with their bowls and their spoons. _"Some of us were wild before we were Trained Pokemon."_

"And some of us learned," Ven added in a low rumble. "Crystal and I had to learn from other Pokemon, remember?"

"Exactly," Crystal commented, nodding in agreement with her Pokemon before looking over at Daphne. "If you run out of food at any time, it shouldn't be too much of a problem for my Pokemon -- they can find food well enough out in the forest, if need be."

Daphne hesitated, frowning slightly when she heard this. "Well...if your Pokemon can handle themselves that well...." Her expression changed slightly, and the woman sighed and shook her head. "Who am I kidding?" A smile brightened the woman's face, and she looked to Crystal. "Of course we'll take your Pokemon in for a while."

"You will?" Crystal's expression brightened.

"It's the least I could do for one of the two Trainers who helped stopped Team Rocket in Jhoto," Daphne responded, smiling widely. "And having a Venasaur with us might help us gain more attention in the long run -- and maybe even make our flowers far more beautiful. It's said that Venasaur with the Sweet Scent move are capable of making flowers grow to be even more beautiful than they already are."

"I've heard that they can attract Pokemon that are looking for Trainers," Rose commented, looking to Crystal with an expectant expression.

Crystal blinked a couple times upon hearing Rose say that. "Well, I wouldn't know much about that, but having strong Pokemon with you can be a bit of a magnet for some Pokemon, if they want to join a strong team and become stronger themselves. Sweet Scent can attract Pokemon sometimes, though, I think."

"It's been a while since I last used it," Ven muttered, frowning slightly.

 _"It is a move that is exclusive to Grass-Types,"_ Kaz commented. _"You should be able to remember it easily."_

Ven gave an odd humming noise in response to the Alakazam. "If you say so."

"So long as you treat them with care and don't do anything to push them too far, I think they'd be more than willing to give you a hand in hunting down any particular Pokemon it is that you're hoping to befriend," Crystal stated, nodding to Rose.

The teenager nodded back. "Thanks."

"It's the least we can do, for letting them stay here while I take care of the people who are troubling the area." Crystal looked over at her other Pokemon, who nodded in agreement with her statement. "I'll make sure to check in on you guys when I get to a Pokemon Center, though it probably won't be the next town because it's so close to here."

Daphne looked at Crystal with an expression that clearly showed her surprise. "You don't have a PokeNav?"

Crystal blinked for a moment before frowning. "A what?"

"A Pokemon Navigator," Rose stated matter-of-factly. "Devon makes them."

"Most Trainers around here have them," Daphne commented. "They contain maps, work as portable phones, and have other uses, as well."

"So...it's like a PokeGear?"

Daphne nodded in confirmation.

"Okay. I've never really had much of a use for that kind of thing before, but I guess it might be a good idea to look into getting one." Crystal rubbed the back of her head, looking somewhat embarrassed.

The Mewthree had always used her telepathy to contact the people she wanted to talk to -- and if they were too far away for that, Crystal would just teleport in order to find where they were. The fact that she was going to have to learn how to use a device to contact others was going to take some getting used to, but the map feature was definitely going to be useful.

"Maybe the PokeMart has some that I can choose from," Crystal commented.

"Probably," Daphne agreed. "They are pretty expensive to most people, but they've been giving Trainers discounts depending on how many Badges or Pokemon they have."

"Good to know." Crystal looked down at the two PokeBalls that were still strapped to her waist; the other three had been given to the Pokemon who lived in them. The Trainer liked to have her Pokemon keep their PokeBalls with them when they weren't with her, doing one thing or another.

Even though they weren't in Kanto at Professor Oak's lab, Crystal trusted them to be able to handle themselves.

"Considering that I have only two Pokemon and no Badges, it might be a good idea if I went after my next Gym before I got a PokeNav," Crystal commented. "Do you know where the nearest one is?"

"You didn't challenge Norman?" Rose asked, frowning.

"He won't let me yet. I think he wants me to get stronger with the Pokemon I have already first." Crystal nodded to Richie and Samuel, who had both finished eating and were looking at the other, larger three Pokemon with expressions of awe.

"Well, the other Pokemon Gym there is in the area is in Rustburo," Daphne commented thoughtfully. "The Leader there runs the Trainer School there as well, so she might not be available all the time."

"Trainer School?" Crystal repeated. "That's new. I don't think I've heard of an actual school for Trainers before."

"There aren't ones in Jhoto?"

Crystal shook her head. "Or Kanto. At least, that I'm aware of."

"You should probably visit, then. You might already be an experienced Trainer, but there might be a few Trainers who could want advice from you."

"I am going to be pretending to be a beginner, so giving out advice might not be such a good idea...." The Mewthree rubbed the back of her head again, invisible ears twitching back a little bit.

Daphne paused for a moment, then gave a sight nod of agreement. "That could be true, I suppose." The woman looked somewhat thoughtful. "If anything, you could pretend that you needed some more information about being a Trainer. That wouldn't be too bad, would it?"

"No, I don't think it would." Crystal rubbed her arm where Lauraina had dug her fingernails in and injected the poison. She hadn't faced status effects all that much -- in fact, most Pokemon who ended up coming up against her ended up getting knocked out before any status effects could have been put into play. Maybe paying a visit to this Trainer School might be a good idea.

Crystal looked up at the darkening sky again. "I should probably get into the city and head to the Pokemon Center to spend the night."

"Why not stay here?" Daisy countered. She turned to look at her mother. "Can she, Momma? Please?"

Daphne looked over at Daisy for a moment with a somewhat surprised expression, then looked over at Crystal with a look that the Mewthree had a bit of a difficult time identifying.

"It is getting dark," Daphne admitted, "and while Rustburo isn't all that far from here, there's still a chance that you could be caught off-guard on the way to the Pokemon Center. We do have a guest bedroom where you might be able to stay for the night."

Crystal considered this. While she did want to get onto the next town as soon as possible, it was starting to get to be a little bit hard to see the forest that surrounded them. The fact that there was still light in the sky confused the Mewthree's senses for a moment, but she quickly realized that it was light pollution from a nearby city -- how close it was, though, Crystal was unable to tell.

"You may be right," Crystal finally conceded, nodding. "Since I won't be taking my stronger Pokemon with me, I probably won't be able to defend myself as well."

"So you'll be staying with us?" Daisy asked hopefully. When Crystal gave a nod, the little girl let out a squeal of delight, throwing his fists in the air and sending her soup bowl flying behind her. There was some soup left behind, and this was scattered in droplets all over the grass.

"Oh, Daisy," Daphne murmured, shaking her head and smiling to herself.

Crystal chuckled, as well. "We should probably get inside before the temperature drops too much."

Daphne looked over at Crystal and gave a nod of agreement. "The days may be warm here because of the volcano, but the further south you are, the cooler it tends to be." The woman rose from her place in the grass and picked up Daisy's bowl as the others got to their own feet.

Richie, Samuel, and the rest of Crystal's Pokemon came over to the group.

 _"The young ones want to stay out here tonight,"_ Kaz stated, looking to his Trainer. _"Would you allow it? Or do you want them to stay close?"_

"So long as you stay close to each other," Crystal responded calmly with a slight smile. "And stay close to the house. I don't want you to wander off too far."

"Yeah, yeah," Samuel muttered in a huffing tone. He turned and waddled off. Richie quickly moved after him, with Esmeralda on their heels.

Ven watched him go, then turned and looked at Crystal. "He is going to be some trouble if you don't give him more attention and work with him personally."

"Probably," Crystal agreed, frowning slightly. "It's going to be strange, learning how to train other Pokemon Types. At least I know how to handle Pokemon like Richie, but...."

"You'll be able to figure it out," the Venasaur responded. "I know you can." With that, he turned and followed after the other Pokemon. Kaz remained there for a moment longer, but then he, too, turned and followed the other Pokemon across the clearing.

Crystal let out a sigh, watching her Pokemon go for a moment. Then she turned to look at the humans and gave a nod. "Let's go in. They'll be able to handle themselves for the night."

"All right," Daphne gave a nod, then turned and walked into the building that was both her house and her shop. Daisy, Rose, and Crystal followed close behind.


	12. Chapter 12

The next morning, Crystal awoke to the smell of flowers coming in through an open window. The Mewthree lazily sat up in bed and stretched, taking in a deep breath through her nose and letting out a sigh of approval at the smell of the flowers outside.

After that, it took her a moment to remember where exactly she was and why, which promptly got the girl to remember what she had done the previous night.

"I'd better get moving if I'm going to have a look at that Pokemon Gym in Rustburo," Crystal murmured to herself as she slipped out of bed in her clothes from the previous day. She quietly put on her shoes, then made her way out of the room and into the kitchen, which was on the second floor with everything else that humans needed for general living quarters.

Unsurprisingly, Daphne was already up and making breakfast.

"Good morning!" Daphne stated cheerily as Crystal sat down at the kitchen table.

"Good morning," Crystal responded calmly. She folded her arms in front of her on the table, watching the woman work at the stove over what smelled like scrambled eggs. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, I did," Crystal hummed in response. "Waking up to the smell of the flowers this morning was wonderful."

"Isn't it?" Daphne smiled at Crystal in a motherly fashion. "That's why I love living here so much -- we have this entire area practically to ourselves, so we can plant as many flowers as we want in order to make this place look and smell beautiful!" Daphne gave a delighted sigh, looking like she was in heaven.

The action made Crystal giggle a little, amused at Daphne's actions. The Pokehuman did have to admit that Daphne was right, however -- the flowers did look and smell beautiful.

"You have to have at least a few Pokemon come by and spend time in them," Crystal commented, smiling lightly.

"We have, but in recent years, they've been a little harder to come by." Daphne's voice became a bit more melancholy. "Probably because of those people who have been causing trouble all over the region. The Pokemon may be less trusting of most humans now than before."

Crystal's eyebrows shot up when she heard this, her invisible ears stiffening in shock. "Less trusting of humans? But...surely they know that not all humans are bad."

As soon as the words were out of Crystal's mouth, she reconsidered them for a moment, thinking back to when she had first gone out into the real world and interacted with the humans who existed in it. She had been a little nervous about it at first, but there had been something within her that had told her it was all right to trust Blaine, Red, and Professor Oak.

"I'm not sure what the Pokemon are thinking at this point, Crystal," Daphne responded, concentrating on what she was cooking on the stove top. "There's been a lot that's happened during the past what, ten years? Anyway, ever since Team Rocket and that Mewtwo fiasco, I think that Pokemon are rethinking what they know of the human race."

"It's been nine and a half years," Crystal corrected, coming out of her thoughts of her past. "And I suppose that some Pokemon might become a little more cautious of humans, considering what Team Rocket has done. But has Team Magnus done anything here that might shake that trust even more?"

Daphne paused, considering this, before sliding the scrambled eggs from the frying pan in her hand to a plate nearby. Coming over to the table, the woman stated, "I don't know, Crystal. As far as I can tell, everything that they've done has been concentrated further north. I have heard rumors of them coming down this far, but most of them stay close to the volcano."

Daphne put the plate of scrambled eggs in front of Crystal and moved to sit down across from the Trainer, rubbing her head as though she had a headache of some kind.

Crystal frowned. "Professor Birch mentioned that, too. Does anyone really know what it is that they're doing?"

"I don't think so. I certainly don't." Daphne let out an annoyed sigh and shook her head, looking down at the table. "There's a lot that we don't know about them -- or the children that they've kidnapped. Norman must be heartbroken to lose both of his children."

Crystal let out a nervous hum, thinking back to when she had been in Petalburg. Norman indeed seemed to be distraught and was planning on taking out Team Magnus on his own, but he seemed to have enough trust in herself, Gold, Brendan, and May that they might be able to do at least something about the problem.

"He nearly closed down his gym, but a friend of mine and I managed to convince him to stay there for a while longer," Crystal stated finally. "I hope he hasn't changed his mind by the time I go back to challenge him later."

"You can never really tell with Norman." Daphne chuckled. "At least, according to what I've heard. Some say that, as soon as he moved from Jhoto, he set up his Gym almost as though it was a dojo."

"He moved in from Jhoto? Why?"

"The old Gym Leader retired, and Petalburg needed a new one. Norman was at the top of the waiting list for Trainers who wanted to become Gym Leaders. He ended up moving in about...three years ago now, I think."

Which means that he only heard about Crystal's antics from the friends he still had in Jhoto, probably. However, Norman didn't really seem to show any recognition when he saw Crystal -- or heard her name -- which made Crystal wonder just how much Norman knew about what had happened with the Rocket incidents.

"Why can't you challenge him yet, by the way?" Daphne asked, bringing Crystal out of her thoughts again.

"He wants to see if I'm worthy, I think. He said that I should probably take on...four other Gyms before going to him."

"Four Gyms? That's half of the League, isn't it?"

"I think so..." Crystal frowned. "This is my first time going through a challenge like this, but the Kanto and Jhoto Leagues have eight badges, too, from what I remember."

"It's the same for other regions," Daphne confirmed, nodding. "Norman must have high hopes for you if he said you have to defeat half the League first."

"I think I'll be able to handle it, but it's going to be a bit difficult with Team Magnus running around. If it wasn't for them, then I probably wouldn't be leaving Ven and the others here."

Crystal looked down at the scrambled eggs on her plate for a moment; they had probably gotten cold by now, and she wasn't about to leave without being a good house guest. The Mewthree picked up a fork nearby and started to eat, clearing the plate in a moderate amount of time.

"Well, I wish you good luck," Daphne stated as Crystal ate her breakfast. "If anyone could juggle a League challenge and taking on Team Magnus, I think it'll most certainly be you."

Crystal swallowed the last morsel of food. "Thanks. I'm still a bit unsure, but I guess I'll be figuring that out as I go along." She got up from her place and moved over to the stairwell, where her green backpack had been left leaning against a nearby wall. The Trainer grabbed a strap with one hand and threw it over one shoulder before turning to look at Daphne.

"Thanks for letting me stay the night," Crystal stated, giving Daphne a slight smile. "And for keeping an eye on Ven, Kaz, and Esmeralda."

"It was no problem," Daphne responded lightly, smiling. "If you need anything, you can always look us up in a Pokemon Center."

"I will do that," Crystal promised.

The Mewthree then went down the stairs into the shop, then walked out the back door and into the flower field that was behind the flower shop. The dew on the grass and the flowers started to soak through her jeans, but Crystal didn't mind.

"Morning," Crystal greeted her Pokemon cheerily as she approached them. "Did you guys sleep well?"

Ven gave a greeting hum, shaking out the flower that was on his back. Dew drops were scattered all over the place, hitting Crystal in the shirt. "We got a little wet, but we were fine."

 _"It seems that Hoenn is more prone to having gentle rains in the night,"_ Kaz commented, raising one of his feet and shaking it in order to get rid of some of the water that was clinging there. _"I wonder if this climate holds true for lands further north, as well."_

"There's a volcano up in that direction, from what I remember when we flew here," Crystal responded, coming to a stop.

"A volcano?" Esmeralda repeated in amazement. "There's a volcano here? Like the one you said you explored once?" She looked over at Ven, who looked somewhat nervous.

"The only reason we did that was because we were helping a friend out," Crystal commented. "Otherwise, I think Ven and I would have avoided going there at all."

"I hope _we_ don't have to go there," Samuel muttered from where he was sitting on the wet grass. "That's not going to be fun at all."

"We'll have to see," the Mewthree responded gently. She looked around the group, a slight frown coming over her face. "Where's Richie?"

"Here." The little Psychic-Type came out from under the shadow of Ven's flower. "I don't like getting wet."

Crystal chuckled lightly, then came over to the Venasaur in order to give Richie an easier time scrambling up onto her left shoulder. Below, the Shroomish scowled and muttered something under his breath, but didn't do anything else.

"Well, we'll just have to make sure that you don't get wet, then," Crystal commented. She looked down at Samuel. "I suppose you're ready to go, too, right?"

"Yeah, yeah," Samuel muttered in passing, scowling.

"It's probably going to be a while before we run into each other again," Crystal added, turning her attention to the other, stronger Pokemon that made up her team. "We're in the same region, though, and I know that I can call on you whenever I need the help."

 _"Just send the word,"_ Kaz stated with a nod, _"and we'll come."_

Crystal gave a nod in return, then turned her attention to the two Hoenn Pokemon. "All right, you two. Next stop: Rustboro."

Samuel looked up at her, and Richie looked over at his Trainer from his perch on her shoulder. The Shroomish and the Ralts both nodded at once before Crystal turned and started to move around the flower shop in order to get onto the main route between Petalburg Forest and the city beyond.

"Are you sure it's okay, leaving like this?" Richie asked as Crystal got around the shop and onto the dirt path. "Don't you think that you should say goodbye to everybody?"

"Daisy and Rose are watching from the second floor," Crystal replied calmly. She glanced up at the second floor of the shop, and caught sight of a window curtain sliding shut. A slight smirk came over her face, and she turned around again and started on the path, Samuel waddling to his Trainer's right.

As it was early in the morning, the plants were all covered in dew that caught the sunlight like a million jewels. If there were any Pokemon around, they were out of sight -- most likely still sleeping or thinking that there weren't any humans around to challenge them. Crystal wasn't sure which one was true, but she wasn't about to try and find out by making a lot of noise in the trees around them.

"So, what's going to happen now?" Richie asked, looking at Crystal curiously as they moved towards a lake and a bridge at the end of the dirt path.

"Now we're going to go into Rustboro and find the Gym Leader," Crystal responded. She looked out over the lake and over the wooden bridge that ran across it. On the other side of the lake, she could clearly see a collection of buildings clustered together, with what looked like a cathedral-like building that towered over everything. It looked pretty important, making Crystal wonder if that was the Gym of the town.

 _No,_ Crystal corrected herself, shaking her head as she started across the bridge. _The Gyms of Kanto and Jhoto were just regular buildings, not giant cathedrals. Gyms aren't places to worship or places to go and marvel. They're places to train. That cathedral-like building must be something else._

Crystal crossed the bridge without getting jumped by anything in the lake -- not that she was worried about that happening, but after what had happened in the Petalburg Woods, the Mewthree was considering being a bit more careful than she had been in the day before. Magnus might have a Water-Type team in their ranks somewhere; you never really knew, but it was possible.

Crystal kept her senses alert as she stepped off the bridge and onto solid ground agin, Samuel muttering what sounded like a sigh of relief as he got off the bridge. Maybe the Shroomish didn't like the water much, either?

The Mewthree decided against dwelling on it.

"Where to now?" Samuel asked, looking at Crystal with a curious expression. If he had a nose, Crystal was sure that it would probably be scrunched up. "I don't want to be in this place for long."

"Well, it kind of depends on what's going on around here," Crystal responded easily. She walked at a slow pace up the main street of Rustburo, looking around at the buildings and the few people who were actually out and about. "Daphne suggested that I go to the Trainer School first, since the Gym Leader might be there. It might be a good idea if I polish up on a few things while I'm there, too."

"What kinds of things?" Richie asked, sounding curious.

"Mainly status effects -- like the Poison effect that I was hit with back in the forest yesterday. I haven't been hit with effects like that for some time, so I want to make sure that I haven't forgotten anything about healing from them."

"Confusion was scary," the Ralts added with a shudder.

The grim statement brought a shudder from Crystal at the memory of what had happened back in the woods. "Yeah. Let's try to avoid that one for as much as possible."

Crystal spent a good hour working through the streets of the city, looking for a building that might look like a Trainer School. She ended up finding the Pokemon Center in this way, though -- and was able to make sure that her team had full health as a result -- but both the Gym and the School somehow managed to evade her. As the time went by, as well, more people started to fill in the streets, making it hard to navigate the streets without almost losing Samuel in the crowd at first. The Shroomish ended up returning to his PokeBall, but he wasn't necessarily too happy about it.

"Maybe you should try in there," Richie suggested, pointing towards the cathedral-like building that was looming over the other buildings.

"It's probably not either the Gym or the School," Crystal commented in response, frowning. "It's too elaborate for either one."

"But someone in it might know where the school is," Richie countered. "We can try, right?"

"I guess so." Crystal mentally steeled herself, then started towards the cathedral-like building, moving around people walking through the street. The Trainer wrinkled her nose a little at the stiff business suits that the people around her were wearing, but she didn't say anything to them about it. Within moments, Crystal had arrived at the building and had disappeared inside.

Crystal moved away from the doorway as she looked around the inside of the building, looking around at the room that she had stepped into: a lobby with bright red carpet and walls with gold crown moulding, as well as gold trim in the carpet. People wearing red and green were weaving in and out of the area, looking like they were in some kind of a hurry.

"Welcome to the Devon Corporation!"

Crystal turned her head, and she caught sight of a woman standing behind a counter at the other end of the room. She quickly crossed the room over to the counter. "Devon Corporation? The people who made the PokeNav, right?"

"That's correct," the secretary confirmed, nodding. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Uh...yeah, actually, I have a couple things that you could help me with." Crystal rubbed the back of her head, feeling a little nervous at talking to someone in such a busy area. "I was kind of wondering just how much a PokeNav might cost for a beginner Trainer like me."

"Well, it depends on how many Gym Badges you have," the secretary responded. "In Pokemon Marts, for instance, the more Badges you have, the more you have access to by way of medicines, PokeBall varieties, and general technologies. We took that the same way."

"Oh..." Crystal bit her lower lip; that meant that she would probably have to pick up a few badges before she went ahead and bought a PokeNav herself. "I don't have any Badges yet; I had been planning on going to challenge Roxanne today. By how much does the price drop?"

"Initially, not by much."

"And the price is...."

When the secretary stated the price, Crystal's invisible ears snapped down as she flinched; Richie didn't look too happy, either.

"Sounds like I have to save up a lot," Crystal commented miserably.

"I'm sorry that we weren't able to equip you with one," the secretary stated. "Is there anything else that you wanted?"

"Well, I'm having a hard time finding the Gym that's supposed to be in town...could you point me in the right direction?"

The secretary gave a slight smile. "You mustn't be all that familiar with city settings, are you?"

"I'm afraid not." Crystal gave an embarrassed noise and rubbed the back of her head.

"The Gym is actually right across the street from here, but I doubt that Roxanne is going to be in there at the moment. Because the Gym leader is also a school teacher, she only opens her Gym in the afternoon to challenging Trainers."

"And the school is...."

"Right next to the Gym. Roxanne has been known to use it for the sake of teaching her students how to battle in a formal setting."

"Okay. Thanks." Crystal gave the woman a nod.

"It was no problem. Is that all that you needed?"

"Yeah, thanks. If I manage to save up, I'll come back and get that PokeNav."

The secretary gave a wide smile in response, then returned her attention to her computer as Crystal turned and walked out of the building.

"She seemed bored," Richie commented when they had gotten back out into the fresh air again. "Do you think she likes doing that?"

"You mean talking to people?"

"No. Sitting there all day."

Crystal nearly stopped to consider that, but she was already out in the middle of a busy street, so she kept moving so that she could get across and reach the buildings on the other side. "Well, I certainly wouldn't. I like being able to walk around and do things outside, not be stuck in a building. She probably goes out and does things when she isn't working. Most people do, I think."

If Crystal's conversation with her Pokemon made anyone look in her direction, the Mewthree didn't notice.

When Crystal and Richie finally made it through the crowd and to the other side of the street, the two noticed a distinct change almost immediately.

"It's a lot quieter over here," Richie commented, looking around. He put his paws on Crystal's head and pulled himself up a little so that he could get a better look around from a different height.

"Yeah, it is," Crystal agreed, deciding against nodding for fear of knocking Richie off. "That woman said that the school and the Gym were around here, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem to find them." Her blue eyes started to scan the area, trying see if there was anything that looked like a school building or a Gym.

"Those two buildings have a PokeBall on them," Richie piped up, now back on his Trainer's shoulder. Crystal glanced over at him and followed his pointing arm to their left. Sure enough, side by side, were two buildings with a PokeBall positioned directly above the doorway. One looked like a two-story building that was clearly kid-friendly, while the other building was very much reminiscent of buildings that Crystal had seen before.

The Mewthree gave a slight nod. "That's better. I was wondering how the Gyms in Hoenn looked. If they look so much on the outside like the ones in Kanto, then it shouldn't be too hard to find them again." She glanced over at the other building. "Well, Roxanne is supposed to be a teacher, and since I wanted to refresh my memory on a few things...." Crystal glanced at Richie. "You up for going in there?"

The Ralts gave a nod. "Yeah."

"All right, then."

Crystal walked into the school and looked around at the area that she had walked into: an area that had lockers lining the walls, as well as a door that was marked with the word "Principle" in black letters across the window.

"Um...." A slight frown appeared on Crystal's face. "I haven't really been inside a school before. Where do you think we should go first, Richie?"

"I don't know. This is the first time I've been in a school, too."

It was at that point that the door marked "Principle" opened up, and a figure stepped out into the locker-lined hallway: a tall, young woman wearing what looked like a school uniform for girls -- and the only reason Crystal knew _that_ was because she had seen little girls wearing them across Kanto and Jhoto.

"You look a little lost," the woman commented, looking at Crystal curiously.

"Uh...yeah, I guess you could say that I am," Crystal replied, giving a helpless expression. "This is the first time that I've actually entered a school building, so I'm a little lost as to where I should go in order to find the person that I'm looking for."

"Oh?" The woman's dark eyes appeared to be surprised. "And who is it that you're looking for?"

"The Gym Leader, Roxanne." Crystal rubbed the back of her head. "I wanted to let her know that I was challenging today, and I kinda wanted to look over and review a few things to make sure that I wasn't slipping when it came to knowing about status effects."

"Well, that can be easily arranged." The woman smiled. "We have a small library here that Trainers can have access to if they want to read up on something. It's this way." She turned to Crystal's left and started down the hall, the Trainer right on her heels.

"You look like a beginning Trainer," the woman commented.

"If I can challenge and defeat the Gym Leader, it'll be my first Gym Badge," Crystal responded. She knew she wasn't lying, as this was also her first time challenging a League in any region.

"Really? I'm glad that you're deciding to start here, rather than anywhere else."

That statement surprised Crystal a little. "Do Trainers start with other Gyms?"

"Some do. They want to take on Gyms that may have a disadvantage to their Pokemon, and completely forget that sometimes location is the best option. Those with Water-Types as their beginner Pokemon discover that the road to Lavaridge is treacherous if one doesn't have other Pokemon to help guide them." The woman glanced back at Crystal. "Considering that you have a Ralts on your shoulder, I might have thought that you would have tried to go straight to Brawly on Dewford Island."

"There's an island nearby with a Gym on it?" Crystal's eyebrows rose. "Is there a ferry that goes there?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

Crystal frowned slightly. "Okay, then...then what Pokemon does the Gym Leader use?"

"I happen to prefer Rock-Types."

It took a moment for that statement to sink in. "Wait -- _you're_ Roxanne?"

The woman turned around and looked at Crystal with a delighted expression. "Indeed I am. Who might you be, challenger?"

"I'm Crystal, and this is Richie." Crystal motioned to the Ralts on her shoulder. "I have a Shroomish named Samuel, too, but I don't know if you'd let me bring him out in a building."

"That wouldn't be a good idea," Roxanne agreed. "Shroomish have been known to release spores, and the young children in this building may end up having a bad reaction to that."

"I was wondering about that. The Pokedex mentioned that it released spores, and he does know the move Stun Spore." Crystal looked around the hallway. "So...what do you do here? I heard that you were a teacher, but--"

"I teach occasionally, but I more run the school and observe the classes more than I actually lead a lesson. Although, from what I understand, you are looking for one."

"Just a refresher on different status effects," Crystal responded easily. "I'm not really looking for much else to learn."

Roxanne looked somewhat surprised at the statement, but then gained an interested expression. "For a beginner Trainer, you seem to be extremely confident."

"I had good teachers before I came here," Crystal replied. "It's just that I had a run-in with a strong Poison effect that threw me off a little back in the Petalburg Woods."

Crystal wasn't about to tell this woman the real reason -- that she had been poisoned herself -- until she had a good reason to reveal who and what she was in complete confidence.

However, maneuvering the Gym Leader into the position of saying what might happen if someone _like_ Crystal managed to get themselves into a similar situation would be a little bit more difficult.

"Well, considering that you have a Shroomish on your team, that might be a good idea," Roxanne conceded. "Since we're on the way to the library anyway, I'll be able to lecture you there in quiet."

Roxanne led Crystal and Richie through the halls, occasionally passing by open doors leading to classrooms and the various levels of noises that happened to be within them.

"Most of the classes we hold here are for younger children, before they can go off on their chosen journeys," Roxanne explained when a particularly loud shriek caused Crystal and Richie to flinch. "They tend to be rather rambunctious."

"I can hear that," Crystal commented, making as though to rub the top of her head. In reality, she was rubbing the inside of one invisible ear to make sure that the pounding ache could make itself disappear.

The rest of the way to the library was much more quiet, which was some consolation for the Trainer.

As soon as Roxanne had led Crystal and Richie into the small, but well-stocked library at the end of the hall, she closed the door behind them. Crystal's invisible ears twitched nervously when she heard the door _click_ shut.

"Status effects are divided into several different categories," Roxanne stated, moving away from the door to stand in front of Crystal. "Paralysis, Poison, Sleep, Frozen solid, and Burns. Confusion has been considered to be one of them, but I think that one is still being debated, mainly because it doesn't affect any of the specific "stats" that we've given Pokemon: Attack, Defense, or Speed."

"Freezing and Sleep don't affect a Pokemon in that way," Crystal pointed out.

Roxanne gave a slight nod. "True. But we have considered them nuisances in the manner of status effects, and I doubt that's going to change anytime soon." She motioned for Crystal to come over to a wooden table with two chairs near it. The Gym Leader sat down in one of them as the Trainer came over. "Do you have any status effects that you're worried about, Crystal?"

"Poison," the Mewthree responded instantly. "We had a bit of a bad run-in with it back in the Petalburg Woods yesterday."

Roxanne gave a slight nod. "All right. Poison...let me see...that one is actually considered to be among the more dangerous of the status effects, because it can lower a Pokemon's health even when they're outside of battle. On some occasions, it can even affect humans if they breathe in a Poison Gas attack, or were attacked by a Poison Pokemon. In either instance, it's best that a Pecha Berry is eaten before the poison goes too far into the bodily systems. Even then, it's recommended that a check-up is arranged at the closest Pokemon Center to make sure that you're all right."

"What if a Pokemon uses Refresh?" Crystal asked. "Doesn't that usually take care of it?"

"Yes, but I've heard that it can be somewhat painful if there's a lot of poison in the Pokemon. Depending on how powerful the poison is, it can spread either quickly or slowly through the body, creating an extremely dangerous situation."

 _That would explain why it hurt so much when I used it,_ Crystal mentally noted. _That must have been a powerful poison Lauriana attacked me with._

"You mentioned that Burns don't affect a Pokemon outside of battle," Crystal commented, steering the conversation to the next status effect.

"It seems PokeBalls can cause the burns to stop spreading pain, but they can't halt a poison's spread," Roxanne responded. "It may have more to do with internal vs. external injuries, but no one has been able to do enough research on it to be fully sure."

Crystal gained a thoughtful expression at that statement, nodding slightly. "I guess that makes sense. What about the other status effects?"

"Paralysis is only brought on by a strong electrical attack or a spore of some kind that mimics a Thunder Wave. It scrambles the nerves of the body and makes it harder to move. Freezing and Sleep have the effect of completely halting all body movements for a short time -- Freezing by encasing the Pokemon in ice and Sleep by forcing the Pokemon into a deep slumber. I've heard that, occasionally, sleep-inducing attacks can be used to give the mind hidden commands through hypnosis. The person or Pokemon affected doesn't usually remember what happened afterwards, however."

Crystal stiffened a little bit when she heard this, the statement bringing her back to the Petalburg Woods, and the man who she and her two Pokemon had encountered. A concerned frown came over her face. "Magnus...."

"Magnus?" Roxanne repeated sharply. The statement caused Crystal to look at the Gym Leader in alarm. "Why did you say Magnus just now?"

Crystal blinked a couple times, then regained her composure. "In the Petalburg Woods, there was a small group of people who were connected with that organization. One of the people we ran into acted extremely confused after we managed to release him. It...it may be possible that he was hypnotized in order to work with them."

Roxanne gained a concerned expression when she heard this. "No...that's impossible. Hypnosis has never been able to work well enough that a human would do what they didn't want to do. If a man was hypnotized in order to work as a member of Team Magnus...there must be something else going on here."

"Probably," Crystal agreed in all seriousness. "What really scared me, though, was that the leader of their unit was...."

Crystal trailed off, realizing that she was starting to stray into an area that she rather shouldn't be talking about. She glanced away from the Gym Leader, an uncertain expression crossing her face.

"Crystal?" Roxanne asked, a concerned frown coming over her face. "What is it?"

Crystal bit her lower lip, considering what exactly she could say. A moment later, she opened her mouth and started to speak carefully.

"The leader of the group that was in the Petalburg Woods," Crystal stated carefully, "was a human who had some Pokemon DNA in her -- a Crobat's. She...it took a lot for me and my Pokemon to take her down."

Richie cooed nervously at the memory. "It was scary, when you were Confused, too."

"I know. It scared me, too." Crystal reached up and patted the Ralts on the head in a comforting gesture.

"You faced a human with Poison capabilities?" Roxanne asked, surprised. "How? That shouldn't be possible."

"I saw her," Crystal responded seriously. "She was turning the entire forest into a poisoned wasteland. I wasn't about to stand by and let her get away with it."

Roxanne frowned, her eyes going over Crystal's form for a moment. The expression on the woman's face made Crystal feel nervous, like she was getting picked apart and put back together by the Gym Leader's gaze.

"As soon as I saw you, I was certain that there was something different about you from other Trainers I have seen," Roxanne commented. "Almost as though you had some kind of power within you."

"Gym Leaders can sense that?" Crystal asked, skeptical.

"Only those that possess a certain fighting spirit within them." Roxanne gave a warm smile. "That's why they are Gym Leaders, some of them. It's because of my rock-hard stubbornness in the past that I was able to become a Gym Leader and push through, but recently, I've found that there may be more to it than that."

Crystal paused, considering the Gym Leader's statement. If that was true, then it was possible that some of them might have the Aura Sense, like Rukario and she did. If that was possible...there was no way that she would be able to hide what she was from them.

_It might make things easier in the long run...._

Crystal quietly steeled herself, then let out a sigh.

"When we attacked that woman in the Petalburg Woods, she dug her fingernails into my arm and poisoned me," Crystal stated carefully. She pulled her left arm out of her jacket and showed Roxanne the area that Lauriana had dug into. "It was only through a combination of Refresh and a Pecha Berry did I manage to flush it out of my system."

Roxanne's eyes widened, and she looked between Crystal's arm and her face in bewilderment.

"Richie doesn't know how to use Refresh," Crystal continued, glancing at the Ralts, "and I don't know if his kind can learn it. Truth is....I used it myself." The Trainer looked back at the Gym Leader. "That power you think you sense? I know that it's there. It's kind of been there since I was born...about nine years ago, now."

"Nine years? But you look like you're fifteen."

"Yeah...there's a reason for that...." Crystal rubbed the back of her head with her right hand. "Ever heard of the Mewtwo incident that happened back in Kanto? I'm kind of connected with that."


	13. Playground Playdate

By the time that Crystal had finished her tale, she had revealed her invisible appendages to the Gym Leader, as well as revealed what Gold had told them about what Magnus had done with the kidnapped children. However, she left out both Red and Blue's pre-human pasts, and refrained from mentioning Yellow. The Mewthree didn't think that the Gym Leader needed to know about them, as well as what she could do.

Roxanne, on her part, hadn't fainted or done anything close to acting terrified. Rather, she simply sat there with a dumbfounded expression while Crystal had her ears and tail disappear again.

"I didn't think that the rumors were true," Roxanne finally commented when Crystal had finished. "I knew that there had been something about what some people claimed to be a Pokemon and a human, but I never imagined I'd actually be able to meet someone like that."

Crystal hummed lightly in response, looking somewhat nervous as a result of the attention that she was getting from the Gym Leader. "I didn't want to inform anyone that I was here, but considering what happened back in the Petalburg woods, it wasn't something that I could entirely avoid with you."

"I suppose not." Roxanne rose to her feet. "Crystal, what you have told me is some extremely dangerous news. If this Team Magnus has managed to recreate what brought you into this world, they are much more dangerous that most of us had thought."

Crystal nodded. "Exactly why I'm here. I came to put a stop to them so that they wouldn't try anything like Team Rocket did. But I want to be able to do it so they don't know I'm in the same area as a group until it's too late for them to do anything. Considering what happened in the forest, it might be my best bet for continuing through the region without gaining too much attention for myself."

"I agree, but...why did you decide to tell me this?"

"You said you could sense the power within me. I wasn't about to lie to you and act like I was completely naive."

Richie nodded in agreement. "That wouldn't be fun."

Roxanne gave a slight smile. "Well, I admire you for your honesty. I suppose that means you'll be trusting me to keep that a secret?"

Crystal nodded. "At least, from the wrong people. I don't want news of me being here to spread like a wildfire. If the other Gym Leaders can sense what I am, then it might be a good idea to let them know, too."

"Are you sure?" Roxanne looked somewhat amused, somehow. "If you did tell them, some of them may want to see your skills in action."

That statement made Crystal pause, a frown flickering across her face. "Who would want to see me use my skills?"

"If you somehow manage to get to them, there's a Gym on Mossdeep. The Gym Leaders there are Psychics, and they have a telepathic connection between themselves. They might want to see how someone like you uses your own abilities."

"There are Psychic Gym Leaders here, too?" Crystal was a little bit surprised. "I knew there was one in Kanto, but I didn't think that there were others."

"Tate and Liza are strange Trainers, but they are extremely powerful Gym Leaders. I think they would be extremely interested in meeting someone who can personally say they know how to utilize Pokemon attacks." Roxanne seemed to be somehow amused by the idea. "But enough about them -- you're going to be challenging _me,_ if I remember correctly."

Crystal smiled in agreement and gave a nod. "Right. I'm guessing that I'm going to have to come back later if I want to challenge you, right?"

"That would be the general idea, considering that school is presently in session." Roxanne rose from her chair. "You can meet me at the Gym in the mid-afternoon hours -- that's when school closes for the day."

"All right. Thanks."

Roxanne walked over to the door of the library and opened it. Before she stepped out of the room, she added, "You can stay on the school grounds while you wait for me, if you wish. Some of the students do have Pokemon with them, and I'm sure they'd enjoy having a battle with you and your Pokemon."

Crystal considered the statement for a moment, exchanging a glance with Richie curiously. "What do you think? Would you be up for it?"

"I think so," Richie responded. "I mean, I'm going to have to learn how to be able to battle without you giving me so much help."

"And Samuel is going to have to get used to battling with me giving orders," Crystal agreed. She turned her attention to the Gym Leader. "Battling the students here doesn't sound like too bad an idea. My Shroomish hasn't worked with me yet, and Richie wants to get some more practice in."

Roxanne gave a warm smile. "There should be some students out on the playground now. I'll take you out there now, if you'd like."

"That would be wonderful."

The Gym Leader led Crystal and Richie out of the room and down the hallway, turning before Roxanna led them outside again. The trio soon found themselves standing at the edge of a playground, where little children were running around on jungle gyms and playing with small, almost babyish Pokemon.

"Children!" Roxanne called out.

The playing and running stopped, and they looked over in the Gym Leader's direction.

"This is Crystal," Roxanne stated, motioning to the Trainer standing next to her. "She will be challenging me in my Gym this afternoon, and she requested that she have some time to spar with some of you. Is anyone interested in battling with her?"

There was an instant clamoring of noise as students ran forward with their Pokemon, each child asking to be let to fight the Trainer first. The sound was so much that Crystal ended up backing up a step while Richie buried his face in her neck.

"Quiet down, you'll all get a turn," Roxanne stated, moving to calm down the students. "However, we are going to have to make an order as to who will battle her first."

"I wanna go first!"

"No, I should!"

"I don't really care whether I go first or not...."

"Well, if you don't really care, then I don't see why you can't go first, Mara." Roxanne turned to look at the student who had spoken -- a young girl wearing a pink dress and a matching bow in her hair.

"M-me? Are you sure?" Mara pointed at herself in surprise while the other students exchanged jealous glances.

"Well, why not? I'm sure that your Pokemon are eager to get some exercise."

"I don't care who ends up going first," Crystal spoke up. "And I don't have very many Pokemon with me, either -- it's just Richie and Samuel, my Shroomish." She stroked the head of the Ralts sitting on her shoulder, and he let out a hum that clearly said he liked what she was doing.

"Um...okay." Maria looked somewhat uncertain, but she nodded anyway.

"Let's go over to the practice fields," Roxanne suggested. "There will be more room for your Pokemon to move around."

"Sounds good," Crystal agreed. "Lead the way."

Roxanne and the crowd of kids walked around the school, arriving at a fenced-in area that had a small battleground area that Crystal had slowly started to become aquatinted with thanks to the time she had spent traveling through Kanto and Jhoto.

The older Trainer quietly went and chose a side, watching as Mara moved over to the other side. Richie slid down from his perch on Crystal's shoulder, then stood there with an intense expression on his face. Crystal wondered if Richie thought he was going to be battling right away.

"I've only got one Pokemon," Mara called out somewhat nervously.

"That's fine," Crystal responded calmly. "I could only use one Pokemon, too, if you want me to."

"O-ok. That'd be good." Mara pulled a PokeBall out of the small bag that was hanging from one of her shoulders. "So, first one that gets knocked out loses, right?"

"That's the basic idea." Crystal unclipped Samuel's PokeBall from her belt; the action got a confused look from Richie for a moment before an expression of realization came over his face, and he retreated behind Crystal. "You ready?"

"I guess so." Mara tossed up her PokeBall. "Let's go, Mimi!"

The red and white sphere exploded, releasing a small Pokemon that was blue and spherical in shape. There was an even larger blue ball attached to a thing, wire-like black tail on the Pokemon.

Crystal blinked a couple times before pulling out her green and black PokeDex. "I haven't seen a Pokemon like that before...."

Text appeared on the Dex's screen. _"Azuril, the Polka Dot Pokemon, the pre-evolved form of Maril. A Pokemon that lives primarily by the water, its tail carries the nutrients that it needs in order to undergo the process of evolution. It can throw its tail around like a lasso in order to launch itself through the air for long distances, the record being 33 feet. As a result of recent research in the region of Kalos, it has been recorded that this Pokemon is both a Normal and a Fairy-Type."_

"Is that a PokeDex?" Mara asked, sounding curious. "It doesn't look like the other ones I've seen before on TV."

"I was given the option of customizing mine," Crystal admitted, looking up from the device in her hands. "It said that your Pokemon is a Normal and Fairy-Type. I haven't heard of a Pokemon with that kind of Typing before." She rubbed the pink Mew silhouette on the Dex for a moment before she put it away.

"Really? Where I used to live, Fairy-Types were pretty common, I think." Mara rubbed the back of her head, frowning.

"Are we going to fight now?" Mimi asked, bouncing on her tail.

Crystal smiled slightly, then tossed the PokeBall that she had in her hand. Samuel came bouncing out in a flash, looking puffed up and irritable.

"I think I'd like to meet other Fairy-Types, if you can tell me what Pokemon they are," Crystal commented. "We should probably get this battle out of the way first, though."

Samuel scrunched down closer to the ground. "Great. As soon as I get out, it's a match. I'd been hoping for some fresh air without this."

"You can relax later, Samuel," Crystal stated calmly in reply to the Shroomish's statement. She looked up at Mara. "I kind of want to get used to working with the Shroomish I just befriended, if that's all right with you."

Mara nodded. "Okay."

"You two ready, then?" Roxanne asked, looking between Mara and Crystal.

"I am," Crystal responded, nodding to the Gym Leader.

"Me, too," Mara added, nodding as well.

"All right, then. Battle, begin!"

"Mimi, use Bubble!" Mara called out, pointing forward at Samuel.

"Okay!" The Azuril stopped bouncing on her ball and landed on her feet in front of it before creating a small stream of bubbles. The watery spheres started to make their way towards the Shroomish.

"Samuel, try a Stun Spore," Crystal suggested.

"Try?" Samuel snorted. "I don't need to _try_ anything." The Grass-Type angled his body so that the top of his head was aiming at the Azuril. As the Bubbles started to hit, Samuel suddenly inflated before firing off a small stream of yellow, sparking spores at his opponent.

It didn't take very many of these spores to float through the air and reach the other side of the battlefield, where they settled on Mimi. Sparks instantly started to fly from the Pokemon's body, and she let out a cry of discomfort.

"Mimi, no!" Mara exclaimed in alarm. "Try to shake it off, and use Charm!"

"Absorb," Crystal suggested to the Shroomish.

"Yeah, sure." Samuel pulled back and started glowing a soft green. Mimi started to glow the same color a moment before she flinched back with a cry of pain.

"Not that it's going to really do all that much at this point," Samuel added, glancing back at Crystal before returning his attention to the Azuril. "What exactly is she doing?"

Crystal looked over at Mimi, and she blinked a couple times when she saw that Mimi had managed to seemingly make her eyes appear larger...it actually looked kind of adorable.

 _No! I have to focus on the match!_ Crystal shook her head, clearing most of the thoughts that the Azuril was adorable. "Tackle!"

Samuel snorted, but did as he was asked, slamming into the Azuril. Mimi cried out in pain in response, falling off the large ball on the end of her tail for a moment before jumping back on top of it.

"Bubble again!" Mara ordered.

Mimi looked like she was about to unleash the Attack, but then she stopped short when sparks rose from her body from Samuel's earlier Stun Spore.

"Shouldn't be too much longer," Crystal murmured quietly, frowning. "A Tackle or two, and that should take care of it."

"Got it," Samuel responded. The Shroomish ran forward and rammed into Mimi again, who finally unleashed the Bubble Mara had asked her to do before. Samuel shook the Attack off, however, and used Tackle again. This time, when Mimi fell off her ball-like tail, she didn't seem to have the strength to get back up.

"Mimi!" Mara exclaimed in alarm.

"Looks like Crystal and her Shroomish win this one," Roxanne commented. "Good job, though, Mara. You have the makings of a good Trainer."

"I-I don't think so," Mara responded, looking downcast. She reached down and picked up Azuril gently, cradling the fainted Pokemon in her arms -- which was quite the feat, considering that the Pokemon was pretty much two large balls. "I mean...I didn't win."

"Winning isn't everything," Crystal pointed out. "You had a good grasp of what your Pokemon knew, and you thought about what moves would be able to work. Charm is a good move to lower an opponent's Attack, but you have to be careful what Pokemon you use it on, I think -- I don't know if it affected Samuel or not."

The aforementioned Shroomish snorted, as though he didn't find the idea appealing.

"I usually tend to aim for the Trainers," Mimi murmured, stirring in Mara's arms.

"Mimi likes to aim at the Trainers," Mara explained shyly, not knowing that her Pokemon had just said the same thing. "I think she thinks that, if they can see how cute she is, we can stop fighting."

"Well, I think the move might be more effective if you trained to use it on other Pokemon, probably. Using it in Trainers is all well and good, but we don't exactly have attacks that are going to have their power lowered." Crystal chuckled at the idea, but knew that if Mimi and Mara had known certain things about her, then they would have argued very differently about that.

Mara smiled slightly. "Okay. We'll work on it." She and Mimi exchanged eager, almost happy looks that made Crystal smile. It was good to see beginning Trainers and their Pokemon eager to work together like Mara and Mimi were, and she hoped that she could find more Trainers like that in the future.

"So, anyone want to battle me next?" Crystal asked, looking over at the other schoolchildren standing around looking at herself and Mara.

There was an instant clamoring of voices as the children tried to scramble over each other in order to get Roxanne's and Crystal's attention. The Gym leader ended up fixing all of them with a glare that caused them to quiet down after a moment.

"I've got a question!" A boy raised a hand.

"A question?" Crystal blinked a couple times before frowning out of curiosity.

"What is it, Timothy?" Roxanne inquired, turning to look at the child.

"Since you're so smart about Types, I wanna know something," Timothy stated, turning to look at Crystal. "I've got a Poocheyna from my dad, and he says that they're immune to Psychic-Type attacks. Why?"

Crystal flinched when she heard that. Just those words let her know what Pokemon the kid had...and she wasn't exactly eager to have a spar with him.

"From what it sounds like...." Crystal paused, then continued carefully, "Poocheyna are Dark-Types by nature. Because of that, Psychics have a hard time accessing their minds -- which is where most of their attacks end up going in the long run, like Confusion or Psychic." She shuddered a bit at the memory of the darkness she had felt when she had tried to defend herself all those years ago, and rubbed her arms, were the Houndoom had sunk their teeth into her back in Kanto.

"Oh." Timothy blinked a couple times. "I guess that makes sense."

"But, like all Types, Dark-Types do have their own weaknesses," Roxanne spoke up. "Fighting-Types are a common defense against them, but recently, it's been discovered that Fairy-Types are strong against them, as well. Pokemon like Azuril and Ralts can easily take down Dark-Types with the proper moveset."

"Wait -- _Ralts?"_ Crystal looked at Richie in surprise. "I didn't think that they were Fairy-Types."

Richie shrugged, not knowing what exactly to say about it.

"You didn't know?" Roxanne appeared amused. "Go on -- check your PokeDex. It should say something about it."

"Sounds like a good idea." Crystal pulled out of PokeDex again and maneuvered it so that it was able to scan Richie, who wrapped his hands around her neck so that he wouldn't end up falling off. She knew that it wasn't about to register her because Professor Oak made sure of that, so there was no danger in having the children discover that she was partially a Pokemon herself.

_"Ralts, the Feeling Pokemon. This Pokemon has the capability of sensing others' emotions using the horns on its head, and will take cover if it senses hostility, but will appear before someone if they have a positive disposition. If its Trainer is in a cheerful mood, then the Pokemon is, as well, and may warm up a little. Originally thought to be pure Psychic, it has been recently discovered to also be part Fairy."_

Crystal blinked a couple times as she read the entry. "Huh." She gave a slight smile. "At least you have something to help against the Dark-Types."

Richie nodded in agreement, tilting his head back a little so that he could look directly at his Trainer. There was a slight frown on his face, however. "You okay? You don't look so good."

"I'm fine, Richie. You don't need to worry."

Richie's frown deepened a little. "If you say so...."

"You can understand Pokemon?" Mara spoke up in surprise.

Crystal looked over at the little girl, blinking for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, I can. I've kind of spent so much time with them, it's pretty easy to tell what exactly it is that they're saying."

"That's so cool! So you think that I'll be able to understand what Mimi says?"

"Spend enough time with her, and I think that you will." Crystal gave a smile. "It looks like the two of you are pretty close already. Just give it a little time, and you might be able to hold conversations with her just as easily as you might with any other person."

Mara's eyes shone with excitement at that, and Mimi looked excited at the thought, as well.

That's when Timothy stepped out of the crowd, holding a PokeBall in one hand. "Can I fight you with my Poochyena now?" He sounded impatient.

At the question, Crystal shrank back a bit. Richie let out a coo of alarm at the sudden movement and the feeling of unease that was rolling off her. "I'd rather not."

Timothy frowned. "Why not? I mean, you fought Mara, didn't you?"

"It's not you; it's your Pokemon."

"What do you mean by that? It's just a Pokemon."

Crystal frowned at that, annoyance at the boy's flippant tone overriding her unease for a moment. "If Richie was 'just a Pokemon,' then I wouldn't be able to understand him like I do." She took in a breath in an attempt to calm herself, then forced herself to relax somewhat. "I had a bad run-in with Dark-Types when I was younger. I don't want to end up in a battle with one if I can help it." She rubbed an arm again, remembering the Bite attacks from the Houndoom that had been sent after her.

Richie let out a sound that clearly said that he was worried about his Trainer, but Crystal didn't try to reassure him this time; she didn't want to talk about what had happened to her, and she didn't want to say that she was all right, either.

"Oh." Timothy looked a little uncertain at that, lowering his PokeBall.

Roxanne had an expression on her face that clearly said that she wanted to know about what had happened, but decided not to press. Crystal hadn't decided to explain how it was that she had met Professor Oak after Blaine had helped her get away from Team Rocket, and now she was sure that they Gym Leader was starting to put two and two together.

"So, is there anyone here who doesn't have a Dark-Type who wants to fight me?" Crystal asked, looking around at the group of kids. A number of them stepped back; apparently, Dark-Types were easy to find in the area, news that Crystal didn't need to know.

"I could fight you," offered another boy, stepping forward. He had spiky brown hair that looked like it wasn't about to flatten itself out anytime soon. At his feet was a brown and white-striped Pokemon that had its mouth open, tongue lolling out as it panted eagerly. "This is Ziggy; he's a Normal-Type called a Zigzagoon." The boy sounded proud at this statement, grinning.

Crystal looked over at the Pokemon, curious. "Zigzagoon, huh?" She pointed her PokeDex at the Pokemon.

_"Zigzagoon, the Tinyraccoon Pokemon. Because of its curiosity, it zigs and zags in order to look at everything in sight, and is good at finding items as a result. Wild Zigzagoon have very bristly hair, which they rub against trees to leave markings for their territory, and they may play dead to fool other Pokemon in battle. This Pokemon is a pure Normal-Type."_

"Shouldn't be so bad," Crystal finally commented, lowering the PokeDex. She looked over at Richie. "You want to take this one, since Samuel took the last one?"

"Sure."

Crystal lowered herself so that Richie to climb down without getting hurt from falling off. The Ralts moved forward as Samuel moved back, settling down near Crystal's feet with an expression that clearly said he was bored.

"I've fought Zigzagoon before," he muttered. "They're not so bad. Just get easily distracted."

"Hi!" Ziggy greeted, striped tail wagging fiercely. "I haven't seen a Pokemon like you before. What are you?" He started to move quickly around Richie, nose working fiercely as Richie turned to keep the front of the Normal-Type in his sights.

"I'm a Ralts," Richie stated, uncertain as to what to do about the Pokemon in front of him.

"Cool! I've heard some things about Ralts. I've always wanted to meet one!"

"Ziggy, we're going to do a battle!" the boy called out, looking a little annoyed. "Can you figure out what it is later?"

"Richie's a he," Crystal corrected, becoming amused. Ziggy was certainly a curious Pokemon...and, she had to admit, he looked pretty cute, too. Something about the expression on his face just made her think that he could be a Pokemon that she could get along with rather easily.

Ziggy let out a whine, clearly saying that he didn't like the idea of having to fight someone, but he moved away from Richie anyway and positioned himself in front of the boy on the other side of the practice field.

"Good luck!" Mara called as she moved out of the way of the other boy. Mimi called something similar in her own language.

Crystal nodded over to them before looking down at Richie. "Okay. You ready?"

The Ralts gave a nod. "Uh-huh."

"All right. Let's start things off with a Confusion!"

The sonic noise variation of the attack slammed into Ziggy, causing him to cover his ears for a moment with his front paws.

"Ow ow ow!" the Pokemon yelped. "That burns!" He shook his head after a moment, then looked around. "Why does everything look like its green and shiny...?"

"Ziggy, tackle the Ralts!" The boy pointed forward towards the smaller Pokemon.

"Huh? Did someone say something?" Ziggy cocked his head for a moment, then scratched at one of his ears hard enough that he let out a yelp. "Ow!"

Crystal smirked a little. "Okay, Richie. Do that again -- Ziggy's Confused now."

"Right." Richie let loose another Confusion attack, causing Ziggy to wince again.

"Ziggy! You have to Tackle the Ralts! Come on, snap out of it and use Tackle!"

The Zigzagoon's ears perked up. "Will?" He shook his head a couple times before his Confused expression cleared. "Oh, right! I'm supposed to be fighting you!" Ziggy promptly charged forward and slammed into Richie, causing the Ralts to be sent flying a short distance and into Crystal's legs.

"Richie, are you feeling all right?" Crystal asked instantly, looking down at the Pokemon in concern.

The little Pokemon shook his head for a moment, then started to get up to his feet. "Ow. That really hurt." Without Crystal's bidding, Richie's launched another Confusion, managing to hit Ziggy dead-on again.

The Normal-Type let out a yelp when the attack hit. He staggered around for a moment, then shook his head before managing to regain his balance.

"Tackle again!" the boy ordered.

"Right!" Ziggy started charging forward again.

"One more Confusion ought to do it," Crystal commented.

"Okay." Richie started prepping another attack.

The sonic variation of the Psychic attack and Ziggy's physical ramming both happened at once, kicking up a cloud of dust and hiding the two Pokemon from sight.

"Richie/Ziggy!" Crystal and Will both cried at once.

"It seems that your Pokemon are evenly matched," Roxanne noted as the dust started to clear. Crystal could just barely make out the forms of the two Pokemon...and it looked like they were still standing, if only barely.

"Wow. I'm as powerful as an actual Trainer?" Will looked amazed.

Crystal shrugged. "It's the Pokemon that make the Trainer, remember? We're just there to help them become stronger. I only just started yesterday, so my team isn't very strong or very big yet." She motioned to Samuel, as though his presence was proof of that. "Eventually, we'll get stronger, but that's going to take a while. That's why I want to challenge Roxanne -- so that we can become stronger."

The dust finally managed to clear, revealing Richie and Ziggy, wavering in their stances and looking like they were about to fall over any second.

"Richie," Crystal murmured out of concern. "Are you all right?"

Richie's stance wavered somewhat, but he managed to right himself before he could have toppled over to the right.

"Ziggy, do you think you can use Tackle one more time?" Will pressed.

Ziggy let out a whine in response to the question; he clearly didn't want to move very much.

Richie, on the other hand, had clearly heard what it was that Will had wanted his Zigzagoon to do, and he somehow managed to find the energy to fire off yet another Confusion, getting Ziggy square in the face and causing the Pokemon to roll over onto his back with a yip of surprise.

"Looks like Richie is a little faster than Ziggy," Roxanne commented, sounding somewhat amused at the turn of events.

"Nice job, Richie," Crystal said in relief as she got down into a crouch. Richie started to stumble towards her for a moment before she managed to catch him, preventing the small Pokemon from stumbling too much. "You did a good job out there."

Richie smiled weakly. "Yeah."

"You should visit the Pokemon Center in order to get your Pokemon up to tip-top shape," Roxanne commented, nodding to Crystal and Will. She returned her attention to Crystal. "And then you can meet me in the Gym. I have a few more Trainers in there who could help you prepare for you battle against me this afternoon."

"That will be helpful," Crystal commented. She looked down at Ralts. "I think I saw the Pokemon Center a short distance from here. It shouldn't take us too long to go there and come right back."

"Okay." Richie let out a yawn.

"Fine with me," Samuel muttered. He went into his PokeBall rather abruptly, causing Crystal to sigh and shake her head at where he had been a moment ago.

"Samuel is a Pokemon that I recently befriended," Crystal offered by way of explanation. "He probably doesn't like the city very much."

"I should think not," Roxanne commented. "Shroomish and other Grass-Types don't tend to handle areas like this too well -- most likely because of the forest we had to cut down in order to build our cities, as well as the possible pollution that may have been produced in the process."

Crystal didn't like the sound of that. "Oh. I guess that _would_ cause the Grass-Types to not like the cities very much...."

"We do have some areas that have been considered nature preserves for the sake of the Pokemon -- Petalburg Woods could be considered one of them, considering how long that it's been left alone."

"Well, that's good, at least. If not for that, I think I would start to really worry about what Pokemon I could and couldn't catch without harming the area in the long run." Crystal started to get to her feet, holding Richie carefully in her arms so as not to jostle the little Pokemon too much. "Well, I'd better go find that Pokemon Center again and heal up my Pokemon -- maybe even find something to eat before I go to the Gym."

"I'll see you there in about an hour, I suppose?"

"Probably." Crystal nodded in response to Roxanne's question. "I'll see you there, then."

"Does that mean you're not going to fight the rest of us, then?" a boy asked in disappointment.

"I'm afraid not," Crystal responded. "Samuel doesn't seem to want to, and Richie definitely can't. Maybe I can come back and fight you all some other time."

There came a number of grumbles from the children who hadn't fought Crystal, but Will and Mara simply nodded in agreement.

With that, Crystal gave the group one last smile before turning and walking off the school property, starting in the direction that she guessed the Pokemon Center was in.


	14. Gym Trainer Trio

True to both of their words, Crystal arrived in front of the Gym within the hour, a recovered Ralts sitting on her left shoulder and Samuel still sitting in his PokeBall.

"Well, looks like this is it, huh?" Crystal looked over at Richie. "Time to go in and get ourselves a Gym Badge."

Richie nodded. "You're nervous."

"Well, this is the first time that I've actually fought a Gym Leader. I have friends who are Gym Leaders, but I can't say that I've ever actually fought them." Crystal took in a breath in order to see about calming herself. "Well, here goes."

Crystal stepped forward, pushing open the doors to the building...and stopped short when she saw the interior. "Wow...."

The Gym was a lot more massive on the inside than it had been on the outside, and there were skeletons of Pokemon practically jumping out of the walls. There were what looked like exhibits for Fossils and rare stones scattered around the front of the Gym...before it turned into what Crystal guessed was supposed to be a canyon-like maze.

"Hi there, Trainer!"

Crystal turned her head sharply to the left when she heard the unfamiliar voice, and she caught sight of a man standing near what looked like a statue with a Pokemon on top of it -- a Rhydon, looking like it was about to attack. There was a similar one on the other side of the entrance, as well.

"Uh, hi," Crystal greeted. She turned her attention away from the Gym and looked at the man curiously. "Who are you supposed to be?"

"I'm a Gym Guide," the man replied, grinning hugely. "There's one of us in each Gym in the region, and each region has their own guild of us, so we can rotate Gyms every few months or so. We work as referees half the time, too. I'm gonna guess that you're here for a Gym Challenge?"

"Yeah, actually. I'm Crystal -- Roxanne is expecting me to come in and fight her."

The man's eyes brightened "Ah! Yes, that's right! Roxanne mentioned something about that! She wanted me to make sure to tell you that you had to fight all three of the Trainers that we have here before you go and fight her. She wants to see how well you can handle the Gym's Type before you take her on."

"Sounds reasonable." Crystal nodded. "Roxanne told me the Gym has Rock-Type Pokemon, and that means that Samuel will probably be getting more of a workout than you will, Richie."

"Why?" Richie sounded like he disapproved of the idea.

"Rock-Types are extremely weak to Grass and Water-Types," the Gym Guide put in. "I'm guessing your Samuel is one of the two?"

"Yeah; he's a Grass-Type."

"He's doing to do a lot more damage than your Ralts, then. Not to say that your Ralts won't do any damage at all -- it'll do more than what a Normal-Type would, at least -- but Samuel, whatever that Pokemon is, will be able to do more."

Crystal nodded. "Thanks for the reminder. Where are the Gym Trainers?"

"Right down to business, are we?" The Gym Guide gave a chuckle. "You'll find them scattered in that maze over there." He motioned to the walls of rock in front of Crystal. "You'll find them in plain sight, so don't worry about trying to hunt them down too much."

"That's good to know. Thanks." Crystal nodded to the Gym Guide -- who gained an expression of embarrassment -- then turned her attention to the rest of the Gym. "This'll be my first Gym challenge...here goes."

Crystal mentally steeled herself, then started forward, knowing that Richie was feeling her tension. There was enough of it, in fact, to cause Richie to stiffen up a little himself. He didn't make a sound of protest about it, however.

"All right, Samuel," Crystal stated, tossing the PokeBall and releasing the Shroomish. "All the Pokemon in this Gym are Rock-Types. so you're probably going to end up doing a lot of the work, if that's all right with you."

The Grass-Type easily moved into step beside his Trainer. "Sure. I've got a new move I wanna try."

"What is it?"

"You'll see." The Shroomish gained a mischievous expression, leaving Crystal to wonder what move it was that the Pokemon was talking about.

The trio reached the beginning of the rock maze...and they ran into the first Gym Trainer soon after.

"Hi!" A boy wearing a yellow T-shirt and blue shorts waved at Crystal from where he stood in a crevice in the right wall. "Are you challenging the Gym?"

"We are," Crystal responded, smiling lightly and nodding to the boy. "Are you one of the Gym Trainers?"

"Yup! And the fight begins now! Let's go, Geo!"

The boy tossed out a PokeBall, releasing a Pokemon that almost looked like a boulder at first glance, were it not for the eyes and the arms that accompanied the Pokemon.

"Oh, hey!" Crystal's eyes widened in recognition. "I didn't think that there were Geodude here in Hoenn!"

"What do you mean by that?" The younger Trainer looked confused.

"I came over from Kanto a few days ago, so I didn't exactly know what was going to be the same and what was going to be different." Crystal felt a little embarrassed by the outburst; she really had to get to be better at speaking her thoughts like that.

"Oh! Really? I didn't think that anyone would have been able to get through, what with the blockade that Magnus has got set up a few hundred miles outside the region."

"I flew here with a couple friends of mine." Crystal wasn't about to give the whole story. "But I didn't come here to talk, remember?"

"Right." The other Trainer nodded, then looked at Crystal's two Pokemon who are you using?"

"Samuel." Crystal motioned for the Shroomish to take a few steps forward.

The Gym Trainer's eyes widened. "Oh. Geo, we'd better stop that Shroomish! Tackle!"

"Either Absorb or that new move of yours," Crystal stated, nodding to Samuel.

The Shroomish gave a grin, then hunkered down. "All right! Let's see how you can handle this!"

Samuel suddenly jumped upward, and three small balls of green came flying out of the top of his head and came into contact with the Geodude, who rammed into him at the same time. Crystal blinked in surprise upon seeing the move...and became even more surprised when she saw that Samuel suddenly looked a little better when the Geodude suddenly winced in pain.

"Leech Seed," Samuel stated smugly. He looked up at Crystal. "I figured it out last night."

"Wow." Crystal blinked a couple times before giving a slight smile. "That'll be pretty useful."

She knew what it was that Leech Seed could do -- it slowly sucked the health points from the opponent Pokemon and gave that health to the Pokemon that had fired the attack initially. Even if attacks ended up missing, then damage was still done.

And if a Pokemon was nearly on the brink of fainting...that Leech Seed could could end up saving the Pokemon from losing the battle.

"Aw, no." The Gym Trainer didn't look too happy when he saw the attack that now had his Geodude entangled. "Geo, we'd better do something about this -- and fast! Tackle the Shroomish until it faints!"

"Two can play at that game," Crystal commented in reply. "Samuel, you should know what to do."

"Yup! Time for some Absorb!" Samuel promptly went about with the attack, even as he was slammed into by the Geodude. Green energy orbs started to move from the Rock/Ground-Type to the Grass-Type, causing the opponent to suddenly look a little unsteady.

"Ugh...." Geo shook himself, then winced again as the Leech Seed did its dirty work. "I don't feel so good...."

"Uh oh." The Gym Trainer bit his lower lip. "This isn't good...."

"Is there an echo?" Samuel snarked. He used Absorb again, and the Geodude collapsed, knocked out.

"You're pretty good for a beginner," the younger Trainer conceded, returning his Geodude to its PokeBall. "When Roxanne said that you were going to be coming in and that you were a beginner Trainer who knew stuff, I didn't think you'd know enough to take me out without breaking a sweat."

Crystal shrugged, looking a bit sheepish. "Sorry about that. I guess Roxanne wanted me to be a bit of a surprise?"

"I guess. She's always trying to make sure that we have something to pop quiz, so..." The Gym Trainer rubbed the back of his head. "I'd kind of been hoping that you would have had your Ralts come at me -- then I'd have had more of a chance."

Richie frowned at the PokeBall that the Geodude had disappeared into. "I don't wanna fight anything that looks like that."

Crystal hummed slightly. "I'll keep that in mind, Richie. But I think we'll be relying mostly on Samuel here. Maybe there's another Gym where you'll be taking on all the Pokemon."

Richie made a noise of dislike when he heard that. It was obvious that he wasn't looking forward to that idea very much.

"Y-you can understand your Pokemon?" The Gym Trainer was clearly gawking at what Crystal and Richie had said. "Whoa. You must be stronger than I thought...."

"What do you mean?" Crystal frowned. "Being able to talk to Pokemon shouldn't be unusual. All you need is a good, strong bond with the Pokemon on your team."

"Yeah, but most Pokemon Trainers with a bond like that are _really_ powerful! Like, Champion powerful!"

"Or they could have just lived with Pokemon as far back as they could remember," Crystal pointed out. She looked around at the rock walls. "So, where are the other two Trainers that I have to fight?"

"Uh...around, I guess." The Gym Trainer Crystal had just defeated gave a shrug. "We like to take different spots, but we never really have a problem with running into anybody by accident."

"Is this maze really that large?"

"Not really...is just that we have a lot of hiding spots in the walls." The Gym Trainer gave a wide grin. "We like to keep returning challengers guessing."

Crystal gave a laugh in response. "Well, if that works for you. I'd better go look for the other two, then." She nodded to the Trainer, then turned and started walking down the rocky corridor, turning her head occasionally to look at the walls to see if there was anyone waiting to jump her.

"Well, I don't see anyone so far...." Crystal frowned as she turned a corner in the maze and glanced to her left, catching sight of a familiar young woman standing on top of a raised platform of some kind. "There's Roxanne. That probably means that the other two are probably down this way somewhere."

Almost instinctively, Crystal activated her Aura Sight to see if she was right. Her eyes flashed a crystalline blue for a moment as she tried to sense the positions of others.

"What the--" Samuel looked up at Crystal's face with an expression of surprise. "What did you just do?"

"Hmm?" Crystal glanced down at the Shroomish. "I used Aura. It's something that a good number of Psychic and Fighting-Types can do. Basically, it lets me sense where other people and Pokemon are."

"Really?" Samuel didn't sound all that convinced.

"Do you think that I could do something like that?" Richie piped up.

"Maybe." Crystal smiled at the idea. "I think you'd be perfect at learning it. You can already sense the emotions of others, and that could be considered a first step." She turned her attention to the path in the rock maze ahead of them. "For now, though, we're going to have to concentrate on taking out the other two Gym Trainers."

With that, Crystal stepped forward and turned to the wall on her left -- specifically at a small crevice that happened to be there, as well as the figure that was hiding inside it.

"I take it that you're the second of the three Trainers I have to fight while I'm here?" Crystal asked, looking at the boy hiding there with an expression of curiosity.

"Yup!" The Gym Trainer was wearing clothes similar to the first one that Crystal had run into: a yellow shirt and blue shorts. Once again, there was a Geodude hovering behind him, looking like it was ready for a fight.

"Crystal, right?" the Gym Trainer guessed. "I'm Tommy."

"Nice to meet you." Crystal nodded to the boy in front of her. "The other Trainer I fought a few minutes ago wasn't kind enough to give me his name."

"That was Josh. He doesn't really introduce himself all that often." Tommy shrugged. "So, we're going to fight now, right?"

"I kind of have to in order to fight Roxanne." Crystal glanced over at the aforementioned Gym Leader.

"Oh, yeah! I remember her saying something about that when she opened up the Gym!" Tommy nodded, a determined smirk coming over his face. "All right -- what's your Pokemon?"

Crystal pointed at the Shroomish next to her, and Tommy gained something of a disappointed expression.

"Aw...all right. Geodude, you know what to do. Tackle that thing as much as you can before it can use any Grass-Type moves on you!"

"Maybe you should use the same strategy that you did as last time," Crystal suggested, nodding to Samuel.

"Exactly what I was thinking," Samuel responded in approval. He hunkered down again before releasing the Leech Seeds again, managing to hit the Geodude as it rammed into him. "Hah! Direct hit!"

The Geodude let out a yelp as its health was drained. "Not good!"

Samuel proceeded to drain the Geodude's energy, causing the rocky Pokemon to collapse to the Gym floor.

"Hah!" Samuel grinned triumphantly as Tommy returned Geodude back to its PokeBall. "How do you like that?"

"You didn't tell him to do anything like you did back with that fight with the Azuril." Richie cocked his head and looked at Crystal in confusion.

"It's because all the Pokemon in this Gym are the same Type," Crystal explained. "And they're all weak to Samuel's abilities. We can run with the strategy that Samuel already has in mind -- mainly because I agree with what it is that he's doing."

"Well, isn't that nice of you," Samuel snarked from below. "Now are we going to take on this next Trainer or not?"

Crystal gave a nod, then turned to look down the path again, only to pause a moment later when she saw that a young girl was already standing between them and the Gym Leader, her Geodude sitting out in front of her.

"You're planning on blowing through this Gym with your Shroomish?" the girl asked, frowning at Crystal with what looked like an expression of disapproval. "Roxanne's not just gonna lay down and let you suck her Pokemon dry."

"I never thought that it was going to be easy," Crystal responded. She and Samuel walked over to the Gym Trainer and her Pokemon, stopping a few feet away so that there would be enough room between them for a fight. "It's just going to be _easier_ because of Samuel."

The Shroomish puffed himself up proudly at the statement, clearly looking like he was taking in every statement of pride that he could get.

The girl huffed in response. "Yeah, well, you're going to have to get through me, and I'm going to make sure that it's not going to be easy. Gia, let's go!"

The Geodude in front of her started to move forward, but Samuel was already ready with his Leech Seed attack, having puffed up and hunkered down. Within moments, the Rock/Ground-Type had been trapped in the life-stealing attack, and clearly looked like it didn't want to be caught in it.

"Keep tackling!" The girl Gym Trainer made a motion with one arm as the Geodude launched itself forward. "If we can get that thing to faint before the Leech Seed drains your health, we should be okay."

"If that happens, then Richie can probably step in," Crystal responded, motioning to the Ralts sitting on her shoulder. "And the Leech Seed should still be in affect then."

Crystal's opponent frowned when she heard that, but before she could say anything, her Geodude let out one loud cry before collapsing on the floor, the Leech Seed vines covering it turning brown and fading, since they didn't have any more health to sustain them.

"That's the last one," Samuel stated, shaking himself out. "Looks like we get to fight that Gym Leader now, right?"

Crystal nodded, looking down at the Shoomish while the girl Gym Trainer returned her Geodude. "You want to take a breather before we go up against her? I've got a few medicines in my backpack--"

"Nah, I'm good. I don't need any of those artificial medicine thingies." Samuel shook himself out again.

"Well...if you say so." Crystal looked over at the Gym Trainer in front of her. "Have you considered strategies that could help you take down Grass and Water-Types more quickly? Ice, Electric, and Fire attacks could be good counters if you can manage them."

"Not at the levels we're at," the girl responded, sounding miserable. She frowned. "How would you know about that, anyway? I mean, you're just starting, right? When could you have learned about Type advantages?"

"Trainer Schools aren't the only sources of knowledge in the world, Georgia," Roxanne suddenly called from her platform. "Crystal came here from Kanto with a friend by way of the sky, so I believe she may have learned a few things from Professor Oak."

Crystal nodded, looking up at the Gym Leader. "From his granddaughter, Daisy, actually. She was a good teacher."

The Pokehuman decided against adding that she had, in fact, learned _everything_ that she knew from Daisy's lessons, but they didn't really need to know that.

"Y-you don't mean _the_ Professor Oak, do you?" Georgia gawked. "The guy who invented the PokeDex and helped the other professors in the other regions make their own?"

"That's exactly who we're talking about," Crystal responded easily. She started to move forward, and Georgia moved out of her way, a surprised and amazed expression on her face. "I kind of look at him as an uncle, even though we're not related."

"Wow. Your families must be pretty close then."

"You have no idea." Crystal let an amused expression cross over her face for a moment, thinking back to those who she considered to be her brothers and sister. The amused expression disappeared pretty quickly, however, when she remembered why it was that she was here in this Rock-themed Gym in the first place.

The Mewthree took in a breath. "All right. Let's go get ourselves a Gym Badge, guys."

Samuel gave a short laugh. "This is gonna be easy."

"I dunno...." Richie made something that sounded like a nervous noise.

Crystal felt like she should agree with her Ralts.


	15. vs. Roxanne

"You seem to be getting used to your Shroomish still," Roxanne commented as Crystal walked up onto the platform the Gym Leader was standing on. "Did you spend any time training before you came in here?"

"Not really," Crystal responded. "I consider Pokemon more as friends, and not really something to yell at. Maybe later, when Samuel and I have gotten a little more used to each other, I'll start telling him commands. But not right now -- he's got a pretty good handle on what he wants to do in a fight."

The Shroomish smirked knowingly at that.

"Well, I believe that speaks volumes for a Trainer's experience," Roxanne responded, smiling slightly. "Letting them act as they normally would in the wild gives Pokemon quite a few freedoms that they may never have otherwise in battles like this." She unclipped one of the two PokBalls that was on the belt around her waist, and the Gym Leader fingered it for a moment. "I assume that you're ready, Crystal?"

Crystal gave a nod. "If Samuel's ready, then I am."

"You bet I'm ready!" Samuel moved in front of Crystal, grinning widely and confidently -- clearly, he thought that he would be able to handle what was coming without any problems at all.

"I'll take that as a yes, then." Roxanne gave a nod, then looked over to Crystal's right. "We're starting, Joshua. You might want to let our challenger know the rules of Gym matches before we begin -- this is her first time competing in one."'

Crystal blinked in confusion for a moment before looking in the direction Roxanne was facing. She noticed a moment later that there was a teenage boy standing at one side of the platform holding two flags -- one red, one blue.

"All right." The teenager gave a nod before turning to look at Crystal. "Gym matches like this are usually one-on-one matches unless the Gym Leader happens to specialize in a different style. Only the challenger is allowed to switch Pokemon in the middle of the battle, and they can use as many Pokemon as they have on their team, but we'd prefer it if challengers kept to three at the most."

"Well, I only have two at the moment, so that's going to be all right," Crystal commented. "Thanks for the heads up."

"No problem. I'll be refereeing the match to make sure that your Pokemon don't end up doing anything against the rules -- mainly, go off the platform, because that's out of bounds."

"I'll keep that in mind." Crystal looked down at Samuel. "We're going to have to be careful -- if her Rock-Types are strong enough, they could send you flying."

"Don't worry," Samuel groused in reply. "I don't need that kind of advice."

"Since the both of you know the rules, you can start whenever you feel like it."

Samuel let out a huffing noise. "I'm ready to get started _now."_

"I think we'll get started now, Joshua," Roxanne commented, sounding amused. She tossed out the PokeBall in her hand, releasing a Geodude onto the battlefield.

"All right. Battle start!"

"Same strategy as before," Crystal stated, nodding to Samuel.

"I was planning on doing it even if you weren't going to say that," Samuel responded without looking back. He started to hunker down and puff out in order to get the pressure needed to fire a Leech Seed.

"Tackle to throw it off balance!" Roxanne ordered, motioning her Geodude forward. The Pokemon promptly launched itself forward in response, and rammed into Samuel just as he fired off the Leech Seed. The green vines from the seeds instantly wrapped around Geodude, causing him to flinch as its health dropped.

"Now, to absorb him to fainting," Samuel muttered, smirking. The Shroomish promptly started to work his magic, absorbing green orbs of health as they came flying from the Geodude. The Pokemon started to look like it was getting worn down, but not enough that it was about to collapse.

"Rock Tomb!"

Geodude slammed its hands into the ground, and small columns of rock were sent upward in furrows, eventually managing to reach Samuel and surround him in a circle of rock. A couple of the spears managed to hit Samuel in the side, causing him to cry out.

"I'd like to see you get out of that, insolent Grass-Type," the Geodude stated pointedly. The Pokemon flinched when the Leech Deed did its work again.

"Don't need to," Samuel groused. He promptly did another Absorb, hitting the Geodude and even managing to pull the green orbs through the rock wall. One last pull from the Leech Seeds sent the opposing Pokemon reeling.

"Shouldn't be too much longer," Crystal commented.

"That's what I'm thinking," Samuel commented, smirking. He started to get ready to Absorb again, but then the Geodude suddenly rammed through the Rock Tomb and slammed into him.

"Ow! Hey!" Samuel finally managed to follow through with the Absorb, causing the Geodude to faint. "Since when could you move faster than me?!"

"Geodude is unable to battle!" the teenager on the side of the platform called. He raised his blue flag over in Crystal's direction. "The Shroomish wins this round."

"Not too bad," Roxanne commented, returning the Geodude to its PokeBall. "I haven't had a fight go that fast in some time. Most Trainers come here without knowing about the Type advantages that Grass and Water-Types bring to the table." She clipped the PokeBall to her belt again before removing the other one. "You might have a little trouble with this one, though." She gave a sly smile before tossing out her other PokeBall, releasing her second Pokemon in a flash of light.

Crystal blinked a couple times when she saw the second Pokemon that ended up appearing in front of her. "What kind of Pokemon are you?"

"I am Nosepass," the Pokemon responded, bowing respectfully. The bright red triangle of a noise on the front of its face kept the Pokemon from moving twoo far for some reason, though.

"Nosepass? I haven't heard of a Pokemon like that before." Crystal fished out her PokeDex and opened it up.

_"Nosepass, the Compass Pokemon. Its magnetic nose always faces north as a result of the magnetic fields of the planet, so travelers have been known to use this Pokemon in order to check their bearings. If two of these Pokemon meet, they are unable to face each other because their magnetic fields are close enough to repel each other. This Pokemon is a pure Rock Type."_

Crystal lowered the PokeDex, blinking a couple times. "Huh. That must make it hard for you to move around."

Nosepass made a movement that seemed to be a shrug. "I do not see how you can _not_ move without always facing north."

"Well, I suppose we can act a little strange from your point of view." Crystal nodded in agreement.

"As interesting as this conversation is, I think it might be a better idea if we got to the battle rather than continuing to talk about the difference between us and Nosepass," Roxanne spoke up.

Crystal chuckled nervously. "Right -- sorry about that...I guess that seeing a new Pokemon got me a little distracted."

"Understandable," Nosepass stated.

"Are you two ready for the second round, then?" The teenager on the side of the platform sounded somewhat amused.

"Yeah." Samuel grinned widely and started to hunker down again, ready to fire off another Leech Seed as soon as the battle started.

"Tackle, then follow up with a Rock Tomb," Roxanne stated.

"Understood." Nosepass started running forward at the exact same time that Samuel unleashed his Leech Seed attack. However, the opposing Pokemon somehow managed to move fast enough that the attack landed _behind_ him, sprouted, withered, and died rather abruptly.

"What the--" Samuel was cut off with a yelp as the Rock-Type rammed into him. He was sent skidding back a bit before he ended up hitting the back of the Rock Tomb that had been set up by the Geodude. "Hey! What gives?"

"Looks like that move has a lower accuracy to it than I had originally thought," Crystal commented. "Maybe you should just keep to Absorb for now."

Samuel scowled at the idea, and grumbled something that Crystal didn't catch -- something told her that she didn't want to know what it was. All the same, the Shroomish started to work, drawing in energy from the Nosepass as the Pokemon retreated backwards a short distance.

"Slower, bad aim...at least I can still hit them with an Absorb." Samuel didn't sound particularly happy, but he did sound somewhat satisfied.

Then Nosepass lifted one foot, then slammed it into the ground, causing another row of rock spikes to rise from the ground and surround Samuel again, causing more damage to the Grass-Type.

Samuel made it a point to fire off another Absorb, sending the Nosepass reeling a bit. He looked a little bit better after that, starting to look smug again...only for Nosepass to tackle him again.

"This isn't going to be as easy as you think it is," Crystal warned. "Concentrate on Absorbing until Nosepass is unable to battle, and don't let your pride get to you."

Samuel made a noise that clearly said he was very unhappy at the idea.

"I know you want to use Leech Seed, but Nosepass is fast enough to avoid anything you could manage to throw at it. We're going to have to concentrate on the one that's more reliable."

"I get it, I get it," Samuel groused. He started to use Absorb again, but was rammed by a Tackle from the Nosepass before any health could be absorbed from the Rock-Type. All the same, the attack still managed to do some damage, resulting in the Rock-Type appearing as though it was on its last legs.

"Now things are getting a little better." Samuel shifted where he was standing a little; obviously, because he had been absorbing energy from the other Pokemon in the Gym for the last few fights, he didn't look like he was about to keel over.

The fight ended shortly afterwards, when Samuel let loose another Absorb as Nosepass rammed into him, causing the Pokemon to topple over sideways. As soon as it hit the ground, the body of the knocked out Rock-Type actually shifted a little, so that the nose continued to face to the north despite the fact that the Pokemon was no longer conscious.

"Nosepass is unable to battle!" the teenage referee announced. "Roxanne has run out of useable Pokemon, so the winner of this Gym match is the challenger, Crystal!"

"Hah!" Samuel jumped into the air, causing small, yellow Stun Spores to scatter below him. "What do you think of that, huh?!"

Crystal sighed and shook her head at the Shroomish's antics, but she was also sighing out of relief -- she had just taken on her first Gym Leader, and she had one the match -- even if it did seem a little one-sided as a result of the Types of Pokemon involved.

"Well, that was certainly a fast match," Roxanne commented, returning her Pokemon. She walked across the platform, careful to avoid the rocks that were strewn all over the place as a result of her own Pokemon's attacks. "That shows you have good potential in the League, though. If you had come up against me using a Fire-Type and won, then that would have meant even more potential."

"Has someone managed to do that?" Crystal cocked her head out of curiosity as Roxanne came to a stop in front of her.

"Yes, actually. If you look at the statues that are positioned at the Gym's entrance, you'll see a list of Trainers who have come and beaten me in an official challenge. I changed it to a blank plate a few days ago, and since then I've had four challengers -- counting you. Only three of the four of you have managed to defeat me, though."

"Oh? Huh. I'll have to have a look at that -- there are a couple friends of mine who are doing the League challenge, too, so they may have come through here already."

"Indeed? It will be interesting to hear about your exploits across the region, then." Roxanne reached behind her for a moment, then pulled out something, revealing a small piece of metal that looked like it was all angles and sharp edges. "Here; in honor of you defeating me here, I give you the Stone Badge."

Crystal's eyes widened when she heard that. "Whoa. So this is what a Gym Badge looks like up close." She picked up the item from Roxanne's hand and moved it around in her fingers in order to examine it more closely. "Looks like I can pin it onto my jacket if I want to, but I think I'll just keep it in the Badge case I have."

Roxanne offered a small smile. "How wise of you. Gym Badges have a tendency to be easily lost if they're kept on one's clothes, and if you do lose one, then you will be forced to battle me again -- and you may have a more difficult time with it, depending on how many Badges you have already."

"Also something very important to keep in mind." Crystal nodded again, then carefully shifted her green backpack off her back so that she could get at the Badge case that was hiding inside. When she found it, she placed her backpack on the floor for a moment as she opened up the pink case and placed the Badge into the first open spot on the upper left side of the case.

As Crystal was putting the Badge case back into her backpack and started zipping up the pocket, she paused when Roxanne held out what looked like a disk of some kind.

"Huh?" Crystal blinked a couple times before looking at Roxanne in confusion. "What's this?"

"This is a Technical Machine, or TM for short," Roxanne explained. "They're used to teach Pokemon moves they may not be able to learn naturally as they grow in strength, but they may still be moves that they can learn. This particular TM can be used to teach Pokemon the move Rock Tomb."

"Rock Tomb? Isn't that the move that you were using on Samuel earlier?" Crystal looked over at the walls of rock that were still surrounding the Shroomish, then noticed that Richie had crawled off her shoulder in order to try and help the Grass-Type get free.

"Very astute of you. It's a Rock-Type attack that can be used to lower a Pokemon's Speed in battle, and I tend to find it very useful when my opponent happens to have a Pokemon that's strong in attack, but also happens to have rather weak defenses. It seems that your Shroomish has enough in both stats that he was able to withstand my attacks with relative ease."

"I think it helped that he was only using Absorb, too." Crystal looked at the TM again. "Are you planning on giving me this?"

"Yes. I get the feeling that, if you add a Rock-Type to your team, you may find use for this. TMs can only be used once, though, so be careful what Pokemon you end up choosing in the long run. Also, there are certain TMs known as Hidden Machines, or HMs. These HMs are special because they can be used more than once, and you can use them in order to get past obstacles."

"Really?" Crystal cautiously took the TM from Roxanne's hand and slid it into a more fortified pocket in the middle of the backpack. It looked like there were slots in this one, so maybe it was meant for these disks.

"Yes; there's a man in town whose family used to be lumberjacks; they helped clear the area that Rustboro now lies in today. He has a Hidden Machine for the move Cut, which can cut down small thorn bushes that you might end up finding in your way."

"Huh." Crystal considered that for a moment. "I think I'll go and ask him about that, then. Thanks for the heads-up on the TMs and HMs."

"No problem. You might want to go back to the Pokemon Center now and heal your Pokemon before you continue to the next Gym. No matter which path it is that you end up taking, you're going to be in for some rather difficult battles en route."

"I wasn't expecting anything less." Crystal zipped her backpack shut and moved it onto her back again as Samuel finally managed to get out of the Rock Tomb that he had managed to get himself trapped in. "All right, guys. We're gonna head for the Pokemon Center to get Samuel back up to full strength, and then we're going to have a look at the map they have there to figure out where it is that we should go next. Sound good?"

"Yeah, sure." Samuel sounded like he didn't exactly care.

"Sounds good to me," Richie spoke up. He moved over to Crystal and made motions that clearly said that he was hoping to be picked up. His Trainer readily obliged, and the little Psychic/Fairy-Type was on her left shoulder in moments.

Samuel made a huffing noise below, muttering something under his breath. Crystal barely managed to catch what it was that the Shroomish was saying.

"What was that, Samuel? Did you want a ride up here, too?"

The Shroomish suddenly looked startled at the idea, but then a glare followed seconds later. "That was _not_ what I was saying."

"All right; I can't really give you a ride anyway -- I doubt that there's really all that much room up here on my shoulders."

"Kinda figured...."

"Well, let's get going, then." Crystal turned and started walking towards the entrance of the Gym, Samuel trailing a short distance behind her and looking somewhat disgruntled.

When they reached the entrance, Crystal paused, and turned to look at the Rhydon statues -- or, more specifically, the platforms on which they were standing. Sure enough, just as Roxanne had said, there was a short list of names carved into the metal plaque fixed to the front of either statue.

And Brendan and herself were the only two names on the list that Crystal recognized. The other one, Wally, was completely unfamiliar.

"Huh. I guess I got here before Gold did," Crystal commented aloud. "And it looks like Brendan is faster than either of us...I guess we'd better try and up our game, guys."

"I guess so," Richie commented in reply.

Samuel made a huffing noise again, but he didn't bother to say anything.

"Makes me wonder about this 'Wally' too, though. I wonder what kind of Trainer he is." Crystal turned away from the statues and started out the door and into the midday sunlight.

...right when there came a loud shriek from across the street. "No! Don't! Come back with those!"


	16. Aqua and Magma?

_"No! Don't! Come back with those!"_

Crystal turned her head sharply when she heard the cry, and she caught sight of a man in a lab coat standing across the street in front of the Devon Cooperation building. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw what looked like two forms clothed in red and blue running down the street, which wasn't as crowded as it had been earlier in the day.

"Something's going on," Richie stated worriedly, looking over at Crystal with a concerned expression.

Crystal nodded absently in agreement, frowning slightly at the worried-looking man standing on the other side of the street. Then she started forward towards the figure on the other side of the street, Samuel moving after her.

"Hey! Aren't we supposed to be going to the Pokemon Center?" the Shroomish demanded.

"I just want to figure out what's going on," Crystal responded, not glancing back at the Grass-Type. "Besides, you're not about to collapse, are you?"

"Well, no." Samuel grumbled something under his breath, bringing out a noise of dislike from Richie.

"Then we can hold off the visit until after we figure out what exactly is going on."

The trio soon reached the man with the lab coat, who was still looking around nervously.

"What just happened?" Crystal asked, looking at the man curiously. "I just came away from a challenge at the Gym when I heard you yelling."

The man in the lab coat jumped a little bit when he heard Crystal's voice, and he turned away from looking down the street and looked at Crystal. "A pair of Trainers just broke into my lab and stole the parts that I had been putting together for a project of the company's. If I don't find a way to get them back, there's a high chance that something bad could happen."

"What kind of bad thing?"

"If those parts are put together incorrectly, then they could end up doing damage to the surrounding area -- maybe even hurt those two boys...." The scientist blinked after a moment. "You're a Trainer -- could you go after them and get those parts back?"

Crystal blinked a couple times out of surprise at the question. "Me? Are you sure?"

"You're the only Trainer who's here -- and you just said that you came out of the Gym, so I can only assume that you were at least partially successful against Roxanne?"

"Just beat her, actually," Crystal admitted. "We were planning on heading to the PokeCenter to get Samuel healed up before we started for the next Gym."

"Ah. Then it seems that you came out at the right time, then! Please, could you chase after the Trainers who took off with my work? I would really appreciate the help."

Crystal frowned at the question. She wasn't about to let anyone get away with doing anything like what these two Trainers just did, that was certain. And if there was a chance that what had been stolen could do some damage...something had to be done before anything happened.

"I'll do it," Crystal stated finally. "Do you have any idea where it was that they ended up running off to?"

"My best guess would be the Whismer cave at the end of Route 116, out in that direction." The scientist motioned down the street. "Turn to your right at the fork in the road, and you'll be on the path to the cave in no time."

"Right. Thanks for the help." Crystal gave a nod, then turned and started down the street in the direction that the man had pointed out.

"Hey! What about the Pokemon Center?" Samuel scrambled after his Trainer.

"We can visit it after we take care of this," Crystal responded. "If there's a chance that what was stolen could damage the area, then we have to get it before something bad happens to the area."

"That would be bad," Richie murmured worriedly.

"Why should we do anything for that old guy?" Samuel demanded.

"Because what he was working on might end up affecting the environment in a bad way. And if that happened, then it could end up harming the Pokemon in the area. Those Whismer that he mentioned, for instance -- they could end up going a bad way if we don't stop those two Trainers."

"Like how we stopped what was going on in the Petalburg Woods," Richie spoke up, nodding in agreement.

Samuel didn't say anything in response to that. He was so quiet that Crystal actually had to glance behind her in order to see if the Pokemon was following after her -- which he still was, but now he had a frowning expression on his face -- almost like he was considering what exactly it was that had been said.

Crystal wondered what it was that he was thinking about...but decided against trying to use her telepathy to find out. A person's thoughts were their own, after all, and she wasn't about to pry.

They soon reached the crossroads that the scientist had warned them about, and Crystal paused in order to have a look around. She spotted a sign covered in a red, painted "X" down one of the streets, and the Trainer walked over to it curiously.

"The Rusturf Tunnel is near completion," Crystal murmured, frowning at the sign and trying to read past the paint. "Rusturf? What kind of name is that?"

"They mentioned a tunnel," Richie spoke up. "Maybe it's that cave that the two boys ran into?"

"Maybe. It's worth checking out, at least." Crystal started down the street and noticed that the pavement ended rather abruptly, giving way to grass and trees. At the end of the path, something that looked like a wall of rock rose up from the ground. From where Crystal was, she couldn't see if there was a cave entrance, but it was really the only place that looked like it could have one.

It looked like there were a few Trainers in the area, too, so Crystal felt that it might be a good idea to talk to them and ask about the Whismer cave -- maybe they knew something about the two Trainers, too.

"Oh, hi!" A little boy with what looked like a Bug-Type catching net waved over at Crystal as she approached the more rough grass that Pokemon tended to like hiding in. "Are you here for a battle against us?"

"No, actually," Crystal looked a bit sheepish. "We're here because of something else. Maybe I can give you a battle later."

The boy gained a bit of a disappointed expression. "Aw...I was really hoping for someone new to battle. He perked up a bit a moment later, though. "Maybe I can help. What is it that you're looking for? A Pokemon? I can point you to the best Bug-Types that live around here."

Crystal paused a bit, considering the offer for a moment. She shook her head. "While it would be interesting to have a Bug-Type on my team, I'm afraid that's not what I'm looking for. Did you see a couple teenage Trainers run through here a few minutes ago? They stole something, and I was asked to hunt them down in order to get it back."

The Bug Catcher blinked a couple times, then frowned a bit and cocked his head at the question. "I did see a couple guys run by here. One was all dressed in red, and the other one wore blue and looked like a sailor or something." The frown deepened. "No...he was more like a pirate."

"A pirate? Huh. Do you know which way they went?"

"Towards the Whismer cave." The Bug Catcher pointed towards the rock rise at the end of the path. "They were initially trying to turn it into a tunnel to Verdanturf on the other side, but Whismer don't really like noise too much. That's why they stopped construction. There's one guy who's still in there, though, and he's just been chipping away a little bit at a time. Since it doesn't bother the Whismer, I won't lose my hearing anytime soon."

"Do Whismer really hate to be disturbed that badly?"

"Yeah. If you do anything to startle them, they can make noises that are probably as loud as a sonic boom." The Bug Catcher rubbed one of his ears as a look of discomfort came over his face. "We all carry a pair of earplugs around here so that we don't end up going deaf from them."

"So I'll have to be careful, then. Thanks for the warning."

"No problem. Hope you find those two guys before they end up causing any trouble for the Whismer."

Crystal nodded, then started through the grass, Samuel trotting after her.

"What do Whismer look like?" Richie asked, coking his head to one side and looking at Crystal curiously.

"I don't know. This is the first time that I've heard of a Pokemon like that." Crystal looked at the Ralts. "You grew up in the region, though. Is there a reason that you don't know what they look like?"

"Um...I didn't really move around...."

"We don't leave the 'Routes' that you humans set up unless there's a problem," Samuel spoke up rather pointedly. "Like I'd want to face up against a Pokemon that can take out my hearing."

"I guess not. In Kanto, the same Pokemon seem to have the habit of appearing all over the place. I didn't think that other regions would have more of a problem with Pokemon territory between Routes and caves."

Crystal stopped mid-step when she heard the sound of rustling grass. She turned her head a little bit, wondering what exactly was causing the grass move.

"That doesn't look like a Pokemon I've seen before." Crystal blinked a bit, looking at the pink thing that was poking out of the grass.

"Nya! Hi! I'm a Skitty!" The pink-furred Pokemon's ears twitched a bit as she looked up at Crystal with a happy expression, her pink tail wagging back and forth excitedly. "You smell funny!"

"Oh?" Crystal looked at the Pokemon curiously. "How funny is funny?"

"You look like a human, but you smell more like a Pokemon! What are you?"

"Some people might say that I'm a mix of both." Crystal got down into a crouch. "And you? What Type are you?"

"Trainers' say I'm Normal, but I don't like that." Skitty stuck her tongue out, frowning. The expression brightened a moment later. "Momma always says I'm special!"

Crystal laughed a bit. "Every Pokemon is special in their own way. There's no way that every Pokemon is the same."

Crystal considered asking the Pokemon to come along on her journey, but there was something about the Pokemon that made her think otherwise. Something about the Normal-Type made her think of some girls who could be a bit..."scatterbrained," she believed the word was.

A Skitty probably wouldn't fare too well in battle with a mind like that.

"I would love to stay around and chat, but there are a couple boy Trainers that I have to go and look for before they go and do something stupid," Crystal stated, getting out of her crouch. "I just hope that I don't disturb the Whismer."

Skitty shuddered a bit, her ears moving down. "I _hate_ Whismer! They may be cute, but they're _loud!"_ With that, the Skitty disappeared into the grass again. Clearly, she didn't want to be anywhere near them if they were going to be going after those two teenagers.

"Airhead," Samuel scoffed.

"She's probably pretty young," Crystal commented. "I wouldn't put that kind of name on a Pokemon like her just yet. I just hope we don't run into one of those Whismer -- if they are as loud as both Trainers and Pokemon have been saying, I'm considering putting a Barrier around our ears to keep us from getting any damage as a result of that."

"Or we could just hurry to the cave and get those kids out before they do that stupid thing you seem to be so worried about."

"Either way, we're going to have to be careful." Crystal started towards the wall of rock again, occasionally looking around at the rougher grass patches in case they were ambushed by any of the native Pokemon. Oddly enough, the grass didn't so much as rustle as the trio approached the rock wall at the end of the Route and the cave that was supposed to be there.

"Okay...cave, cave...." Crystal turned slowly as she looked at the rock wall, frowning slightly as she tried to find the entrance to the Whismer cave that she had been told about,

"There!" Richie pointed forward suddenly, causing Crystal to slow in her movements. She followed the little white hand that pointed towards the rocky wall, and gave a smile of relief when she saw the opening that she had been looking for.

"Thanks for spotting that, Richie." Crystal gave the Ralts a smile, then started towards cave entrance. "All right, you two. We're about to enter a cave with Pokemon who could easily scream at us until we were deaf for the rest of our lives. We're going to have to be quiet in there and be very polite to any Pokemon that we may end up coming across -- I don't know what Whismer look like so we'll have to run with that for now."

"Meh." Samuel made a motion that made it look like he could have been shrugging. "Sure, fine."

Crystal took that to be a good enough answer for now, and she started towards the cave, starting to take more cautious steps as she neared the entrance. When she reached the hole in the rock, she paused for a moment and looked in.

"I didn't think that a cave could appear foggy on the inside," Crystal commented, frowning. "Must be a special kind of effect that only appears here in Hoenn...."

The Mewthree took in a slow breath, then walked into the cave, Samuel waddling a few steps behind her. The only sounds that they ended up hearing were the sounds of their own footsteps.

"This place feels weird," Richie murmured, moving closer to Crystal's head and looking around at the foggy cave.

Crystal hummed softly in response, looking around. She kept her footsteps light as she moved through the cave, looking at the walls. "It's far too quiet...I wonder if the Whismer like to be quiet like this. I don't see any Pokemon so far, so they must be hiding in the cave somewhere."

"Hello. Who are you?"

Crystal paused, then turned her head to face the source of the voice. She blinked twice when she saw a small, pink Pokemon whose ears were lying on top of its head.

"Hello," Crystal responded in a quiet, respectful voice. "My name is Crystal. I'm looking for a pair of boys who might have come by here. One is wearing red, and the other one is wearing blue. Have you seen them?"

The Pokemon fidgeted. "Yeah. They went over there and haven't moved to bother us." The Pokemon pointed a little ahead of Crystal. "They have a couple mean-looking Pokemon with them, so we've been staying away from them."

"We came because they took something that wasn't theirs," Richie spoke up softly. "We came because we wanted to bring what they stole back to its original owner."

The Pokemon blinked. "Really? Okay. You won't be here for long, will you?"

"Well, that depends on how the two boys react," Crystal responded. "I'll try to get them out of here without disturbing you or any of the other Pokemon here."

"Thank you." The Pokemon nodded, then moved back into the fog before disappearing.

Crystal stood there for a moment, blinking for a moment. "Guys, I think...I think that was a Whismer."

"Really?" Samuel looked in the direction that the Pokemon had disappeared off in. "Huh."

"He seemed nice," Richie murmured.

"He did," Crystal remarked. "I hope those boys are just as polite about this as he was." She turned in the direction that the Whismer had pointed, then started moving with light footsteps. It wasn't too long before she reached a short ledge with stairs carved into them, and what looked like a small cave entrance located beyond them.

Crystal's invisible Mew ears twitched. "I think I'm hearing voices just ahead of us. Those two boys must be just beyond that cave opening ahead of us."

"All right." Samuel started forward. "Let's go beat up those guys and get that thing back so that we can go to the Pokemon Center and actually relax, huh?"

Crystal sighed. "We don't have to beat them up, Samuel." She started forward, climbing the stairs and moving towards the cave entrance. With each step, the voices started to become slowly stronger.

_"I'm telling you, it's going to go like this and--"_

_"No! Are you nuts? It's just going to end up turning it into something dangerous!"_

Crystal moved to the cave entrance and looked inside, blinking a couple times as she took in the scene that she found in front of her.

Two teenage boys were sitting on a large square piece of cloth, a large collection of metal parts scattered around them.

"I have no idea why you said we needed this thing in the first place," the boy in blue, black, and white commented. He scratched the top of his head, scrunching the blue bandanna he had on his head. He reached down for the anchor that was attached to a chain around his neck and rubbed at one of the points absently, frowning at all of the mechanical parts that were scattered everywhere.

"It's because of the Infinite Energy," the red-headed boy wearing red and black replied, frowning at his companion over the glasses he was wearing. "That stuff is dangerous because of where it originates from. We have to make sure that it doesn't end up in the wrong hands, which means figuring out a way to release it safely."

"Infinite Energy?" Crystal repeated, frowning. "How can an energy like that be dangerous if it is infinite?"

The two boys jumped and turned sharply upon hearing Crystal's question, reaching for the one red and white sphere on each of their belts.

"I'm not here to fight," Crystal stated, holding up her hands in what she hoped was a placating gesture. "If anything, I'm interested in this Infinite Energy that you're talking about, and why it is that you two think that it's so dangerous that you have to steal a pile of parts from the Devon Corporation."

The two boys looked at each other, blinking blankly.

"My name is Crystal, by the way," Crystal added, quickly remembering that it might be a good idea to introduce herself.

The blue-themed boy turned and grinned at Crystal, allowing her a better view of his black and white-striped short sleeve shirt . "Ah, like the shimmering sea! I'm Archie, and this is my brother, Maxie."

"Hmph." Maxie pushed his glasses up his nose. "Greetings. I suppose you're a Trainer who was sent after us?"

"Well, stealing is wrong," Crystal responded. "Although, I do have to admit, I am curious about that 'Infinite Energy' that you mentioned. I don't think that I've heard anything like that before."

Maxie raised an eyebrow. "You haven't? That's odd. I didn't think that there were people who didn't know about it." He motioned to the parts that were scattered on the cloth. "Infinite Energy is a discovery that was made by the Devon Corporation a few years ago. It's an ancient kind of energy that was created hundreds of years ago by a crazed man in the middle of a war. When it was unleashed, it caused a great cataclysm in Kalos and the surrounding area. The entire human population there could have been wiped out, and the Pokemon population could have been wiped out, too." Maxie suddenly looked grim. "Because Pokemon were where the energy originated from."

Crystal's eyes widened when she heard that. "Infinite Energy comes from Pokemon?" What kind of people did something like that?

Richie shuddered on her shoulder, sensing his Trainer's anxiety.

"It doesn't _now_ ," Archie said in passing, as though bored. "Devon's been taking energy from evolution stones and these things called Mega Stones. They're supposed to hold energy that came from humans and Pokemon that shared bonds once or something like that. We're just worried that this kind of energy could end up causing Pokemon to get wiped out again if Devon runs out of stones to suck the energy from."

Crystal blinked at the unfamiliar words "Mega Stone," and decided that she would have to ask someone about that later. "You're worried that the Pokemon population could become depleted as a result of this, then?"

"He thinks that the Water Pokemon will be the ones that will be affected the most by this, because they seem to be the most numerous," Maxie said, motioning to Archie. "I believe that the Pokemon on the land will be affected the most, because they are far easier to capture without needing to go to the bottom of the sea."

"Which takes up more space than the land does," Archie pointed out, stabbing his brother in the chest with a finger.

Crystal frowned at this. "If this Infinite Energy did run out, then Pokemon of all Types and all habitats would be affected, regardless of where they would live. Besides, given this energy's name as 'infinite' right in it, wouldn't that mean that it wouldn't run out?"

Archie and Maxie paused when they heard that, and they stared at Crystal with blank expressions before they looked at each other. The two of them blinked three times simultaneously before they sighed at once.

"Perhaps we were, ah...overthinking things," Maxie commented, adjusting his glasses. "Yes, the word 'infinite' is there in the name of the energy."

"And bonds between humans and Pokemon are never going to run out of energy anytime soon, either," Archie added, a smirk slowly coming across his face. He let out a short laugh. "Man, are we idiots!"

"Shh!" Richie held up a finger to his lips, causing Archie and Maxie to look at the Ralts in surprise.

"Richie does have a point," Crystal said at a slightly softer volume. "Perhaps it would be best for us to take this conversation and the Devon parts outside, where we won't disturb the Whismer?"

The two boys looked at each other; Archie looked a little sheepish while Maxie rolled his eyes and sighed.

"We may as well," Maxie said in a tired tone. He and Archie rose to their feet before gathering all the parts together in the blanket, tying the corners in a tight knot to keep the metal pieces from falling out. Then the group quietly removed themselves from the Whismer cave.

When they got back outside, Crystal turned to look at the two boys. "So, you're worried that this 'Infinite Energy' stuff could cause some big problems in the future, right?"

Archie nodded, a serious frown appearing on his face as he shifted the bundle of parts over one shoulder. "Yeah, that's pretty much it. And Devon's been using rare stones in order to get the energy so far, but they could end up turning to Pokemon if that runs out."

"However, as you so astutely pointed out, Infinite Energy is, in theory, infinite," Maxie commented. "Therefore, they might not be forced to resort to that. And, since Mega Stones absorb energy from the bonds that seem to form between humans and Pokemon, it's likely that they will just ask to borrow Mega Stones from Trainers for a few days or so in order to absorb that energy."

Crystal nodded. "Well, that's a good thing, at least. But why did you want to steal that pile of parts?"

"It's supposed to be an engine," Archie replied. "At least, that's what _he_ says." He jabbed a thumb at his brother. "And it's powered by Infinite Energy. We were thinking that it might be a good idea to just release the energy safely somewhere."

"However, we were having no luck in cracking open the container in order to do so," Maxie continued.

"Well, Devon probably wanted to make sure that the engine didn't blow up or something." Crystal frowned slightly as another thought occurred to her. "You know, you two might be onto something, with protecting Pokemon, at least."

The red and blue-themed teenagers exchanged glances before looking back at Crystal as she continued speaking.

"Pokemon are starting to have a problem with their habitats being destroyed or replaced by what humans have been doing," Crystal said. "Kanto, my home region, has more developed areas than open land for Pokemon to roam. Jhoto is a little better, but not by much. It doesn't look like Hoenn is in the same sort of situation yet, but it might be a good idea if you took the initiative to keep Pokemon habitats as they are for as long as possible."

"Hey, that sounds like a pretty good idea." Archie gave a grin. "I could go for something like that. Then I could work with a lot more Water Pokemon and get to actually explore the seas for once!"

"Doing research of land Pokemon habitats does sound intriguing," Maxie commented thoughtfully, inclining his head thoughtfully. "It might be something interesting to look into. After we return the parts which we took, of course." He eyed the bundle his brother was carrying.

Archie nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Sounds good to me. Let's head back before they call a task force on us or something." He started towards the grass, grabbing the PokeBall at his belt and tossing it out, releasing a little white bird with blue stripes on its stiff wings. "All right, Peng. Let's make sure that we don't end up running into any Pokemon on the way back."

"You got it!" the little bird whistled. It flew ahead of them, taking one or two flaps of its wings while mostly gliding.

"I haven't seen a Pokemon like that before," Crystal commented. She dug out her PokeDex and opened it up before pointing it at the bird Pokemon.

_"Wingull, the Seagull Pokemon. This Pokemon rides on ocean winds like a glider, and makes its nests on sheer cliffs at the edge of the sea. It has a habit of carrying prey and valuables in its beak before hiding them in all sorts of locations. This Pokemon is a Water and Flying-Type."_

"You don't know what a Wingull is?" Archie looked at Crystal in surprise as she put the PokeDex away. "They're pretty common in Hoenn."

"I came here from Kanto," Crystal responded. "We don't have Wingull there."

"You mentioned Kanto earlier," Maxie commented. He and Archie started walking back through the grass, Crystal walking alongside the redhead. "You said that the region has a large amount of industrialization."

"It does." Crystal nodded. "Saffron is the biggest city we have, and it's the one with the most pollution -- mainly because the Silph Company is headquartered there. I think they're starting to look into some clean energy, but I doubt that they've made very much progress with it yet."

"You mean they aren't looking into Infinite Energy?" Maxie inquired.

"Maybe. I haven't been in Saffron since Team Rocket caused all that trouble. I haven't been in Celadon all that often, either."

"Hey, isn't that the place where that big disaster happened seven years ago?" Archie asked. "The one that destroyed the Game Corner and damaged a couple other buildings?"

Crystal hesitated slightly, then gave a slight nod. "Yeah, that's right."

"That's interesting," Maxie commented. "We were only allowed to see footage of the wreckage that had been left behind by what had occurred. Since you are a native of that particular region, do you have any particular idea as to what had happened?"

Crystal frowned slightly, her invisible Mew ears twitching as she considered what she could say and what she couldn't say.

"Team Rocket had...created a Pokemon that they wanted to use as the perfect weapon," Crystal said finally. "It didn't want to be controlled by them and went berserk. Red, Kanto's present champion, was there at the time and was able to stop the created Pokemon from doing any further damage than it already had. Afterwards, the Pokemon came to its senses."

"Team Rocket actually _created_ a Pokemon?" Archie was gawking.

"That should be impossible," Maxie said, frowning and shaking his head.

"What was the Pokemon's name?" Richie asked, curious.

Crystal closed her eyes for a moment, wondering if she should answer the question Richie had given her. "It's not impossible. Mewtwo is a real Pokemon that was created by humans from the DNA of a Legendary. I saw him when I was visiting Cerulean. He and Red were going to a cave that was called the 'Unknown Dungeon'."

"You _saw_ him?!" Samuel repeated, not sounding like he was believing what Crystal had just said.

"If you saw him, then do you have a picture of him on that device you had pulled out earlier?" Maxie inquired.

"Uh...yeah, I do." Crystal pulled out her PokeDex again and scrolled through her entires of Pokemon until she found the data on her older brother.

_"Mewtwo, the Genetic Pokemon. This Psychic-Type was created by genetic manipulation with Mew's DNA by Team Rocket's scientists. As a result of the great power that this Pokemon has, it is a Pokemon that has been deemed 'off-limits' for Trainers interested in adding it to their team. Instead, Mewtwo acts as a possible challenge for interested, strong Trainers. As of this point in time, this Pokemon has gone undefeated."_

Crystal closed the PokeDex and put it away in her backpack. "That's the only thing that anyone knows about Mewtwo. Red's been keeping things quiet on what happened during the battle."

Archie and Maxie blinked a couple times before exchanging glances.

"Sounds like a Pokemon I want to meet someday!" Archie looked back at Crystal, grinning.

"Only if you can get to him," Crystal responded. "The Unknown Dungeon is an extremely dangerous place with equally powerful Pokemon. Mewtwo isn't the only Pokemon that's hiding in there waiting for challengers."

"Well, we can get stronger before we go and fight him. Right, Peng?" Archie grinned at his Wingull.

The flying Pokemon flew back around and landed on Archie's shoulder, folding its wings in half to keep them out of his Trainer's face. "Yep!"

Maxie snorted and rolled his eyes. "We would probably have to fight our way through the Pokemon League in Kanto in order to do that, and I highly doubt that is going to be happening anytime soon, considering the group that has been bothering us recently."

Crystal nodded slightly in agreement. "That's true. They caused some trouble in Petalburg Forest earlier by coating everything in poison. I managed to put a stop to them and befriended Samuel while I was there." She motioned to the Shroomish who was waddling next to her.

Maxie frowned, furrowing his eyebrows together. "These people have no sense of Pokemon habitat preservation."

"You got that right," Archie commented. "Maybe we should do something about them, too."

The group of Trainers and Pokemon reached the end of the Route as Archie was speaking. Crystal was about to respond to Archie's comment and say that she would rather they stay out of the fight at this point were it not for the sudden exclamation from the man who was in front of them.

"Oh, my parts and the culprits!" The scientist ran forward happily. "Thank you, thank you! I knew I could count on you to take care of things!"

"I-it was a simple matter of a misunderstanding on Infinite Energy," Crystal responded, a little started at the man's sudden exclamation.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Archie rolled the bundle off his shoulder and held it out to the scientist. "Here's your stuff back."

The scientist carefully took the bundle, holding it in both arms like he was cradling something precious. "Thank you. What was it about Infinite Energy that you misunderstood? I can explain the concept of it to you if you need that explained."

"Sir, we came here from Kalos," Maxie replied. "The region there uses everything from electricity to solar to heat energy. We've avoided using Infinite Energy because of the war that it originated in -- it's thought that, if Infinite Energy like that is ever used again, it will come from the Pokemon themselves, as that is how it came to be during the war in ancient Unova."

"Dad's always talking about how messing with life energy like that could cause a massive disaster," Archie added.

The scientist's eyes seemed to brighten. "Ah! I see how you could come to the conclusion that Infinite Energy is dangerous. How about you come with me and I'll give you a tour of our facilities so that you can have more of an understanding of what it is that we're doing here?"

"That would be highly appreciated," Maxie commented.

"Are you interested enough that you want to come along, as well?" The scientist turned to look at Crystal.

Crystal shook her head. "No, it's fine. I really should be going to the Pokemon Center so that I can restore my Shroomish's health. I've been holding it off for long enough after our battle against Roxanne."

"You got that right," Samuel groused.

"Well...all right." The scientist nodded somewhat reluctantly. "How long will you be staying in the city?"

"I don't know. Probably for a few days, at least. Norman said that I couldn't fight him until I had at least four Gym Badges, so I'm going to need to find a way to the next-closest Gym that isn't in Petalburg. I think that Roxanne mentioned a Fighting-Type Gym somewhere nearby." Crystal frowned slightly. "Is there a reason that you asked me that?"

"Perhaps, in exchange for helping us settle this misunderstanding, we might be able to assist you with reaching your next destination," the scientist explained. "I'll have to double-check with my supervisor to see if that's all right, though, and that might take some time."

"All right." Crystal nodded. "That would be helpful. If you manage to figure something out, I'll be in the Pokemon Center."

"Very well, then." The scientist smiled and nodded, then turned to look at Archie and Maxie. "I'll go ahead and show you two the facility where we're studying Infinite Energy then. If you'll follow me to the Devon Building."

"Sure," Archie responded, smirking. He started after the scientist, Maxie following after his brother with a calm, but slightly interested expression.

"Now, we go to that Pokemon Center, right?" Samuel asked, frowning up at Crystal.

"Yes, we do," Crystal responded with a slight nod. She started down the street, Samuel waddling after her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Archie and Maxie aren't a part of the problem. They're gonna be a part of the solution. :)


	17. The R&D Department

True to Crystal's word, she remained in Rustburo for a few days, talking with the locals and separating her remaining free time with battling Trainers outside of the Whismer cave and going to visit her Kanto Pokemon at the flower shop. She even visited the Trainer's School a couple more times, offering mock battles with some of the students and taking the time to study up on some things that she wasn't exactly familiar with.

"I knew that Pokemon could use some items, but I didn't think that there would be anything like this that they could use," Crystal commented, turning the strange object over in her hands. "You called this a Quick Claw, right?"

The teacher she had been talking with nodded. "That's right. It can be used by Pokemon to give them a momentary speed boost in battle, but most Trainers leave them by the wayside in favor of doing such things as Super Training." The older man made a face that clearly said he really didn't like that idea too much. "Pokemon should be allowed to grow naturally, not put through virtual games and not allowed to experience the outside world with their trainer."

Richie, who was sitting on Crystal's shoulder, nodded in agreement. "Yeah! I like being outside with Crystal!"

"Why wouldn't anyone want to be with their Pokemon team and train together?" Crystal asked, frowning.

"I think it's because kids are getting way too lazy these days. They're always trying to find shortcuts, but really, the best way to train Pokemon is by working together with them in the real world, not turning them into data and putting them through some silly program." The teacher huffed. "If this keeps up, then Trainers won't be able to completely bond with their Pokemon."

"It is worrysome," Crystal said, nodding in agreement. "I think I might have met a couple Trainers like that before. They kept talking about training their Pokemon to be the perfect battlers. I'm not into anything like that, though, and I probably won't try anything like that if I'm given the chance to in the future."

"A wise choice," the older man said, nodding.

"Thanks for telling me about this. I think I might want to keep a closer eye out for power items like this that my Pokemon can use." Crystal started to hand the Quick Claw back to the teacher, but he held up a hand.

"You go ahead and keep that one; I have plenty of others that I've picked up from my Vigoroth," the teacher said with a slight smile. "I know that you'll put it to good use."

Crystal's eyes widened, and she gained a surprised expression. "Really?"

"Of course. I'm sure that you'll be able to put it to good use."

"Thanks!" Crystal looked over at Richie. "What do you think? Do you want to get a speed boost, or should Samuel get this later?"

"I'm fine with the way I am," Richie replied, looking proud with himself. "I'm getting stronger all the time, remember?"

Crystal chuckled and nodded in agreement. "All right, then. I'll ask Samuel later if he wants it, then." Crystal slid her backpack off her unoccupied shoulder and dropped the Quick Claw into one of the larger pockets of her backpack, where a number of unused Potions and PokeBalls were lying at the bottom. She was zipping it up again when someone dressed in blue, black, and white suddenly ran into the empty classroom.

"There you are!"

Crystal lifted her head upon hearing the familiar voice, and a smile worked its way across her face in greeting. "Hey, Archie. What's up?"

The boy with the blue bandanna on his head offered the Kanto Trainer a grin. "You remember what that scientist said about getting you a reward, right?"

Crystal blinked, then nodded. "Yeah, I remember. Why did you bring it up?"

"They finally figured out what they wanted to do for you, that's why!" Archie made a wide motion with his arm that clearly said he wanted Crystal to follow him. "Come on! The president of the Devon Corporation said that he wanted to meet you, too!"

"Really? Isn't that all a bit much for clearing up a misunderstanding between you and them?"

The teacher Crystal had been talking to gave a chuckle of amusement. "To Mr. Stone, nothing is 'a little bit much'. You may as well go and humor him, since you're still in town."

Richie cocked his head to one side curiously before nodding. "If Mr. Stone is important, then what he might have to say could be important."

Crystal looked at the Ralts on her shoulder before smiling slightly and nodding in agreement; the little Pokemon had clearly started to grow older, and he was becoming more confident in making decisions -- be they about battle or otherwise.

"All right." Crystal looked back over at Archie. "Lead the way."

Archie gave a grin, then jogged out of the classroom. Crystal followed a few steps behind him, keeping up with the teenager with ease.

As soon as the pair reached the outside, a blue and white blur suddenly flew down from the school's roof and landed on Archie's head, folding up a pair of stiff wings.

"Hey, Peng," Archie greeted, glancing upwards. "How was your flight."

"Great! The wild Wingull around here are really friendly!"

"Good! That means you've actually got a couple friends around here."

Crystal smiled at Archie's interaction with the little Water/Flying-Type. Apparently, the two were close enough that Archie was able to at least get the gist of what his Pokemon was saying, but not any of the other Pokemon in the area. It pleased her whenever she saw a bond that was that deep between Trainer and Pokemon.

"Has Peng had trouble finding friends before?" Crystal asked as they made their way over to the Devon Corporation building.

"It kinda depends on where we've lived." Archie shrugged. "Dad's always liked to move around, so we haven't really ever stayed in one place for too long. I think he's finally decided to settle down, though."

"Really? Where?"

"Lilycove." Seeing the confused look on Crystal's face, Archie elaborated. "It's a coast city on the other side of Hoenn. They've got a Safari Zone out there, too, and there's all sorts of rare Pokemon hiding out there."

"Really? I'll have to go and have a look around there when I get that far."

The group of Trainers and Pokemon reached Devon's building, then slowed from a jog to a walk as they moved inside. Unlike the last time Crystal had entered the building -- which had been the day of her Gym Challenge -- the lobby wasn't as busy, and only one or two people were actually standing around in the room.

"The secretary looks bored again," Richie said, poking Crystal in the cheek and motioning to the woman behind the counter. "Do you think we could go talk to her?"

Crystal smiled slightly at the Ralts' question. "It's like you said before -- if the president of the Devon Corporation wants to talk to us, it has to be something important. Maybe we can talk to her after we've talked with the president."

"Okay."

"Why would Richie want to talk to her?" Archie asked, looking over at the secretary and frowning.

"She looks bored." Crystal shrugged with her free shoulder. "Richie wants me to try and give her something to do by talking to her."

"Oh." Archie's eyebrows went up in understanding. "I gotcha. But like you said, the president wanted to talk to you first."

"Where is he?"

"Up this way."

Archie led Crystal over to a set of stairs, nodding in greeting to the men who happened to be standing on either side. Crystal hesitated for a moment at the base of the stairs before she started up the stairs after the teen and his Wingull. A relieved breath rushed out when the men didn't make a move in order to stop her.

"We're going to have to move past the research and development guys, so I can give you a quick tour before we get up to the president's office," Archie said, looking back at Crystal as they went up the stairs. "They're working on some pretty cool stuff up there."

"What kinds of stuff?" Richie asked. Crystal repeated the question, knowing that Archie wouldn't be able to understand the Ralts as well as his Wingull.

"A lot of stuff that could help Trainers and Pokemon get closer together," Archie responded. He gave a wide grin. "You'll see what they're working on when we get up there."

They quickly reached the end of the stairs and arrived on the second floor, and the sight that Crystal was greeted with caused the Trainer to stop in surprise.

"Wow...." Crystal looked around the area, taking in everything that was going on. "There's a lot of machines on this floor."

"Yup!" Archie motioned for Crystal to follow him as he started to make his way around the room. "Come on; let me show you around."

Archie led Crystal over to a man who was standing in front of what looked like a small bed of some kind. The Mewthree noticed with surprise that there was a Zigzagoon lying on top of the dark blue covers with what looked like a metal cap on top of his head. Wires connected to it went to a small machine nearby that had what looked like a capsule of pink gas.

"What's this for?" Crystal asked, frowning at the device and the screen attached to it. It showed a Zigzagoon playing with Pokemon that Crystal didn't recognize.

"This is a device that we've brought over from Unova," a nearby young man explained. "A woman named Fennel found a way to view a Pokemon's dreams. We've been trying to find a way to bring the Trainer into the equation, because items and other Pokemon sometimes come out of the 'Dream World'. It might be interesting to see what a Trainer might do if they were taken into their Pokemon's Dream World, as well. So far, we've only been able to make virtual tests with copies of the brain waves of Pokemon and their Trainers, but we haven't been able to make very much progress in keeping errors and disasters from the merging brain waves."

Crystal's invisible ears perked up in interest. "Really? That sounds really interesting. It would be pretty cool to be able to share dreams with Pokemon." She looked over at Richie, who nodded in agreement. "Then we'd be able to become closer to our teams -- maybe even figure out each other's innermost thoughts and come to agreements on certain things."

"Exactly!" The young man nodded, smiling at the Trainer. "I've always wanted to be with some of my Pokemon in their dreams so that I can understand them better. It's always so difficult to understand the new ones that Trainers manage to find, and I'd like to see if experiencing dreams together could bring them closer together faster."

"Well, I hope you manage to figure out something," Crystal said, nodding slightly. "If there's anything that I can do to help as a Trainer, I'd be more than willing to do what I can to help."

The young man's smile widened. "Really? Thank you! If I manage to make any progress, I'll make sure to let you know!"

"No problem!" Crystal smiled at the young man, then turned to look at Archie. "So, what else is going on around here?"

"All kinds of stuff." Archie started across the room to a large, white machine that had what looked like a piece of rock trapped inside a glass cylinder. "Oh, hey! It looks like we're going to see one of Slate's tests!"

"Slate?" Crystal repeated, cocking her head to one side as they walked over to the machine.

"One of the scientists Devon's got," Archie explained. "He's been looking into reviving Pokemon from ancient fossils or something like that."

"What are fossils?" Crystal and Ralts asked at once. The two exchanged looks, surprised that they had said the same thing at once.

"Fossils are the genetic remains of creatures from the ancient past."

Crystal turned her attention away from Archie, and she caught sight of a man with slate-gray hair and a lab coat.

The sight of the lab coat on the older man brought back confused memories that made the Mewthree hesitate for a moment. She shook her head a moment later. _This isn't Saffron; these people are actually nice, unlike Team Rocket._

"Why do you want to revive these fossils?" Crystal asked, cocking her head to one side.

"There are some things in the world that we might only be able to explain by learning from the past," the gray-haired man explained. "There are even some Pokemon fossils that have been discovered that have been suspected to be ancestors of Pokemon today. For instance, I heard that a fossil of a Mew that was found by researchers in Kanto years ago."

Crystal stiffened instantly when she heard that. "A...Mew fossil?"

The last time that she had heard something like that was when Mythos had been created by Team Rocket.

The man nodded. "I have no idea what was done with it, but I hope to someday travel to Kanto in order to find the researchers and see the Mew fossil with my own eyes. For now, though, I have to settle for the fossils that we have here in the Hoenn region." He looked over at the rock that was in the machine. "For instance, that fossil there was once a part of a Pokemon that was referred to as Anorith. It was given to me by a Trainer who had gone to a desert to the northeast of here."

"Anorith?" Archie blinked a couple times before grinning. "Wasn't that a Pokemon that used to live in the seas?"

"That's correct." The scientist walked over to the machine and started pressing buttons. "This is the first chance that I've had to officially test this to see if I can revive an ancient Pokemon. You two are going to witness something new and grand! Revival Process start...now!"

The machine started to create a low humming noise, getting the attention of the others on the floor as the noise started to increase. Crystal stepped back from it nervously, wondering what exactly it was that the machine was going to do now.

"I don't like the noise very much," Richie complained, covering his hidden ears with his hands.

"I don't, either," Crystal replied, her invisible Mew ears twitching nervously. _"It reminds me of...far worse times."_

"Yeah, it sounds really weird," Peng announced from his perch on Archie. "What's it supposed to be doing?"

Archie heard the Wingull's question, because he turned to look at the gray-haired man and asked, "Hey, Slate, what's this thing supposed to be doing?"

"Well, right now it's supposed to be analyzing the fossil in order to see what DNA can be used to revive the Pokemon," the man -- Slate -- explained. He frowned over at the machine. "Because it's the first time that the data has to process this kind of information, it could end up overheating before moving to the reviving portion of the process."

Crystal frowned starting to feel increasingly uneasy. "The machine turns the DNA into data before reviving the Pokemon using that data? Wouldn't that make it...a clone, then?"

"A what?" Peng asked, confused.

"A copy of the original," Archie explained, looking at his Wingull.

"Oh."

Slate gained a thoughtful expression, considering Crystal's words. "That's an interesting way of putting the revival process that I planned...but I suppose you might be right in that. I hadn't considered that before when I was creating the plans for my revival machine."

The machine's humming started to increase in volume, causing Crystal and the others to turn to look at what it was that the machine might possibly be doing. Crystal herself stiffened in surprise and shock when she saw what was going on.

The glass cylinder that had been holding the fossil was now filled with water, and the fossil itself looked like it was both glowing and dissolving.

"What's happening?" Richie asked.

At the same time, one of the PokeBalls at Crystal's waist popped open, releasing Samuel. The Shroomish shook himself out before looking around the room.

"I've been hearing way too much noise in there," Samuel said shortly. "What in the name of Petalburg Woods is going on out here?"

"Slate's reviving a Pokemon," Peng chirped from his perch on Archie's head. "The machine's just taking a long time to do it, that's all."

Samuel grumbled something that Crystal could barely pick up, what with the noise the machine was making. The Mewthree could guess that he was cursing humans and their technology, however, just because of the annoyed vibes she was getting from the Grass-Type.

The machine's volume continued to rise as the humming started to hit a fever pitch. The glow in the glass cylinder continued to brighten to the point that it was almost blinding, forcing Crystal and the others to look away from the machine.

Mere moments later, the high-pitched whine that the machine was emitting dropped rather abruptly to a low hum before dying off. Crystal's ears, which had been flattened against her head, slowly rose while she lowered the arm that had been in front of her face. Her Mew tail twitched with curiosity and caution as she turned her attention from the floor to the revival machine...where her eyes widened in surprise and absolute _shock._

"Whoa...." Crystal had absolutely no words for what it was that she was seeing.

There came a tapping noise from inside the cylinder as everyone else stared in shock at what had been produced.

"Is that...an Anorith?" Archie asked, pointing at the flat creature in the cylinder, looking bemused as well as amazed. "It looks kinda like a bug of some kind."

Slate's mouth was open in an expression of absolute shock, but he soon recovered with a shake of his head. "Well, fossil experts have speculated that Anorith was possibly a Bug and Rock-Type, considering the armor that's present on its body and the two pincer-like claws that it has."

"Do you think that you could let him out?" Richie asked, looking over at Slate curiously. "We need to let him know what's going on, right?"

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Crystal murmured, nodding slightly. She started toward the machine, her tail twitching uneasily behind her.

It wasn't until she was almost to the glass cylinder that she noticed that there was something that was wrong. The silence was nearly oppressing after the absence of the noise of the machine...and Crystal was getting the feeling that it was not just because of the sight of the revived -- or cloned -- Pokemon.


	18. Secrets Kept

"Crystal...?" Richie asked worriedly as his Trainer began to get defensive.

Crystal ignored the Ralts in favor of turning so that she could see everyone in the room, her mental and physical senses on high alert in order to see if there was anyone who was going to make a move at her and try to capture her. She hadn't expected her ears and tail to appear so suddenly, but she hadn't expected the noise or the fossil machine to did what it did, either, and her surprise from that had probably caused the illusion to drop.

Memories of Team Rocket's Proton back in Jhoto came and went through her mind -- of how the man was able to recognize her even when she had her ears and tail hidden -- and she was tempted to simply teleport out of the building right then and --

"So that Gold guy was right," Archie suddenly said in amazement.

Crystal stiffened when she heard the familiar name. "Gold was here?" She turned and looked at Archie, her now-visible Mew appendages twitching with interest and caution.

Archie nodded, jostling Peng's perch on his head. "Yeah. He beat Roxanne yesterday and came here later to get a PokeNav. Then he heard the two of us talking about you and cornered us for some reason. Then he just said 'We've got more secrets than you think' and left." Archie frowned. "You got any idea what exactly it was that he meant?"

"H-how is it that you--"

"I'm part Mew." Crystal's statement cut Slate off, causing gasps of shock to rise up from the other scientists present. The Mewthree looked around the room, ears twitching nervously as she tried to sense any malevolent presences that might be right there in the room with them. However, when her presence brushed past every single mind there, the only emotions she got back were ones of absolute shock and an undying curiosity.

Well, at least none of them were thinking the way Team Rocket was...but Crystal had been backed into a corner. And there was no way that she was going to be able to get out of this without telling the truth about her origins.

 _"I guess the bright light distracted me from my illusion of keeping my ears and tail hidden,"_ Crystal noted to Richie as she pulled her mind away from the scientists and Archie. _"I'll have to work on keeping that in check."_

"Part Mew?" the young man next to the dream machine repeated. "How?"

Crystal looked around the room, her blue eyes connecting with everyone present. "I'm a mix of human and Pokemon DNA...made by Team Rocket, after they had stared Mewtwo's development. I'm basically the leftovers of the Mew fossil they found, with human DNA to make sure that I'm stable." She shook her head. "I had it explained to me once, but I didn't really understand all the science behind it."

"Team Rocket used the Mew fossil to--" Slate cut himself off as shock and realization crossed his face. "Oh my Arceus. _You're_ a clone."

Crystal's tail twitched at the word, and she looked away from the others.

Samuel snorted. "So what if you're a clone-thing?"

"You're still our Trainer," Richie added helpfully.

Crystal smiled slightly at her Pokemon's encouragement.

"If you were made by Team Rocket, why is it that you're not working with them?" piped up a voice in the back of the crowd. There came a number of murmurs of agreement.

Crystal flinched at that, her ears flattening. "I don't like fighting unless I have to, and the situation with Team Magnus counts as a good reason. I've thought like this ever since Team Rocket started abusing me while also trying to teach me powerful attacks so that I could be their weapon." She shuddered at the memory of the Rocket grunt kicking her after a failed attempt at using Focus Blast. "I was able to escape with some help, and Professor Oak found me. He helped me learn about the world outside, and had his friends help me with everything else."

Crystal wasn't about to explain Rose, Catzin, and Rukario to these people. That might end up being disastrous for the two Mew, and the Lucario might not want massive numbers of humans transforming into Pokemon just so that they could explore his side of the world.

"Incredible."

The way Slate said that set Crystal on edge, but she could only sense amazement coming from him. She wasn't exactly sure whether to take that as a bad thing or a good thing.

"So, you're here because of Team Magnus," said the voice of another man. The voice sounded older, wiser, and mostly-serious with some bits of humor embedded in it.

"Ah! President Stone!" Slate turned to look in the direction of the voice as the scientists moved out of the way, revealing a man with gray, spiky hair. "When did you get down here?"

"When I heard my cousin's machine activate," President Stone replied, smiling slightly. He started to walk forward, causing Crystal's tail to twitch increasingly. "You can imagine my surprise when I found that the Trainer who had brought back the parts was the very same girl that I had heard about from the Gym Leader in Cinnibar."

 _This_ piece of news caused Crystal to look at Stone in shock, her tail and ears shooting straight up. "You knew? How?"

"Blaine is an old friend of mine from back when we were both beginning Trainers," President Stone replied, smiling slightly at Crystal's surprise. "The two of us were interested in science, as well, but for different reasons -- I wanted to improve the Trainer lifestyle, while he wanted to investigate what made Pokemon what they were. Considering your connection with him, I can assume that he was at least somewhat successful."

Crystal's tail twitched as the others present looked at President Stone in confusion. "...I guess." Her left ear twitched as a more serious expression came over her face. "You said you wanted to talk to me, right? Why is that?"

"Indeed I did say that I wanted to speak with you. You see, your friend Gold came by just yesterday and asked to speak with me."

"He did? But why didn't he try to find me? Did he know that I was in town?"

"It seemed that he didn't, because he asked me to find you and send you a PokeNav so that you might be able to stay in touch. I happen to have it right..." President Stone dug around in his jacket for a moment before pulling out a small, yellow and orange device. "...here. I've already taken the liberty of recording your friend's number inside."

"Thanks." Crystal held out her hand and took the device, turning it over in her hands curiously as she felt the cool, plastic casing. "Do you think you can show me the basics of how this works? I've never really used a personal communication device like this before."

"It's simple enough to figure out; I designed it so that even a beginner Trainer would be able to understand it." President Stone came over to Crystal and pressed two buttons on the side of the device, causing the PokeNav to pop open, revealing a screen and buttons for both numbers and moving in all directions. "This is one of our more advanced models, however, so there are more features. The Match Call, which allows Trainers to contact each other, is one of the basic features. You can test it out now or later, whenever it happens to suit you. The other features include a map of the Hoenn region."

President Stone pressed down on the number 2 and held it for a few seconds. The screen on the PokeNav flickered, bringing up a 2D hologram of the Hoenn region, causing Crystal to jump in surprise before taking a closer look at the hologram.

"I'm guessing that the red spots are towns?" Upon receiving a nod of confirmation from President Stone, she continued, "Then what are the black spots?"

"Gold suggested that I add what he referred to as "trouble spots" in Hoenn to the map," President Stone explained. "It seems that these are the possible locations of problems that are taking place throughout the region -- which I believe whole-heartedly. Considering all the problems that Team Magnus has been causing, we've been losing our main target -- Trainers -- at a rather fast rate. It won't be too long before we lose all of them and are forced to close down. And that is something that I do not want to do."

Crystal hummed in response, then looked down at the number buttons. "I guess 1 is like a 'home screen,' then?"

"Correct. And two is the map, three would be the list of Trainers you are able to contact. That would normally be the extent of a beginner Trainer's PokeNav applications, but as this is an advanced version -- or, 'Plus' version, if you will -- there are a few other features that are available. For instance, press number 4."

Crystal did so, and her eyebrows shot up in surprise when she saw the data from her PokeDex suddenly appear on the 2D holographic screen before being applied to the region's map. Then it zoomed in on Rustubro and started to point out what looked like different data points with Pokemon.

"This will allow you to see what Pokemon live in a particular area, and which Pokemon are wild and which ones are owned by Trainers. If you're looking for a particular Pokemon, than this would be able you to find it."

"How did it manage to get the data out of my PokeDex?" Crystal asked in surprise.

"Ah, that?" President Stone chuckled. "Because the PokeDex and the PokeNav are both now registered under your name, they are able to communicate with each other. In fact, I knew that you were here in the building as soon as the Nav registered the existence of your PokeDex."

"Really? Huh." Crystal looked back at the PokeNav. "And the other features that you added?"

"There's only two others. One -- button 5 -- lets your PokeNav act like a portable television so that you can keep track of news that could be taking place somewhere in the region. The other -- button 6 -- has been used by some of the more particular Trainers if they want to train their Pokemon a certain way. I've heard that some of them prefer to use that more than working with their Pokemon in the real world, in fact."

Crystal's interest faded rapidly when she heard what the sixth button did. "I don't think I'll be using that one. I prefer to work with my Pokemon out here in the real world, not in a digital one."

Richie nodded in agreement. "I like being in the real world."

"Well, that's your choice; I'm not about to push you to take that path." President Stone held up his hands in a calming motion before noticing something that was behind Crystal. "Slate, did your project manage to work?"

Slate jumped upon hearing his name, then grinned broadly. "It did! That's an Anorith that I managed to revive!" He turned and looked at the flat Pokemon that was still sitting in the glass cylinder, tapping at the glass with its claws. "It may not look like much right now, but I'm sure that it will evolve into a powerful Pokemon if it's trained to reach a high enough level."

"Hmmm...." President Stone gave the Anorith an appraising look before turning his attention to Crystal again. "I know this is sudden, but do you think that you could take that Pokemon with you?"

Crystal's blue eyes widened in surprise. "What? Are you sure?"

"Of course I am. You said before that you saw this Pokemon as a clone of the original, correct? Maybe, by traveling around with it, you might be able to find out something about the ancient Pokemon. After all, we shouldn't keep it trapped here without discovering what exactly it is that might make it comfortable." President Stone looked over at Slate and motioned for him to do something about releasing the Anorith as he continued, "I heard from Archie and Maxie that you are trying to find your way to the next Gym, right?"

"Yes, sir, that's right." Crystal gave a slight nod while Samuel eyed the flat Pokemon and the humans around them suspiciously. "I don't suppose that you would be able to offer us any advice for that."

"Actually, I might be able to. There's a man who lives near the Petalburg Forest named Mr. Briney. It's said that he used to be a sea captain, but now he's retired to a small schooner. I've heard that he uses it occasionally to carry Trainers from his home to Dewford Island off the coast of the main region -- maybe even all the way to Slateport, if you really need to travel that far."

Crystal's ears twitched when she heard Slateport. "Do you think he'd be willing to take me to either one of those places?"

"If you ask him. I think that Gold actually went to ask him earlier yesterday. If you manage to make it to the other side of the Petalburg Woods before nightfall, you might be able to catch them."

Crystal nodded in response to this, a smile starting to work its way across her face. "Thanks for letting me know about that. Considering the time that it is now, I should be able to make it in time to catch them before they leave." She turned to look over at Slate, who was standing in front of the Anorith and looked like he was trying to prevent the Pokemon from moving off the machine. "Before I go, though...I think I will accept that offer. Clone or not, that Pokemon is bound to be disoriented."

Crystal slipped her backpack off her shoulder -- being careful not to jostle Richie's position -- and dug around in the pockets for a moment before coming up with a PokeBall. She then approached Slate and the Anorith before sliding between the two of them, pushing Slate back with the tip of her tail.

"Hello," Crystal greeted the flat Pokemon. Now that she was standing in front of it, she could see that the Pokemon was clearly covered in heavy, rocky armor, with strange eyes that stuck out either side of its head and what looked like white and red feathers sticking out either side of the Pokemon.

The Anorith's two eyes looked up at Crystal as the girl reached out mentally; she sensed a lot of confusion from the Pokemon, as well as an ancient sense of this place not being right. But, there was also something else...recognition?

Crystal decided to file that away for later and focused on what she needed to do here instead.

"You're among friends," Crystal promised verbally. Using her mental abilities, she sent a feeling of comfort to the Anorith, and was met with more confusion. "I promise that I'll explain what's going on, but you're going to have to trust me, all right?"

Her question was met by an instant, overwhelming sense of obedience, surprising Crystal to the point that she stumbled back a step, blinking a bit.

"What's up?" Archie asked, sounding concerned.

Crystal looked over at Archie for a moment, blinking, then shook her head. "It's nothing that you should be worried about." She looked back at the Anorith, then held up the PokeBall and sent a quick, mental burst of instructions as to what it was and what the Pokemon should do.

As soon as Crystal had sent the instructions, the Pokemon reached out with a claw and disappeared into the PokeBall that Crystal was holding. It rattled in her hand for a moment before settling down with a _click_.

Crystal looked down at the PokeBall in her hand, blinking a couple times. "I think...I'll call him Ando." She clipped the PokeBall to her belt, making sure that it was attached there securely. "Samuel, you might want to come over here and get on my foot or back in your PokeBall."

"Huh?" The Shroomish scowled. "Now why would I do that?"

Crystal gained an expression that showed her amusement. "We have to get to the other side of Petalburg Woods if we're going to catch my friend before he leaves." She looked over at Archie, President Stone, and the other scientists who happened to be in the room. "What you are all about to see has to be kept secret, because I don't want anyone else to know about what I can do. Can I trust you to keep this secret?"

While Crystal was asking the question, she sent a quick explanation to both Richie and Samuel. The response from the two Pokemon was to snuggle closer to Crystal's neck and move to stand on top of her left foot, respectively.

"On my honor as a Trainer," Archie stated, raising a hand.

"You can count on me to keep my mouth shut!" Peng added. "Most humans don't understand us Pokemon, anyways."

"I will make sure that your secret does not leave this floor," President Stone promised.

Crystal nodded in response. "Thank you." She started to gather her energy together, allowing it reach out while picturing in her mind the entrance to the Petalburg Woods -- the entrance that was near Petalburg City.

There was a bright flash, and Crystal could see the shocked expressions on everyone's faces as her surroundings changed from the inside of a building in Rustburo to the calming green of the outdoors.

Samuel let out a squawking noise of shock as the Teleport finished. "What the -- how did you--"

"She's a Pokemon, too," Richie said in a reminding tone. "Remember? She did all that cool stuff in the forest when you met her."

"Besides, you've already experienced Richie using Teleport," Crystal said as her ears and tail disappeared.

"But that was just to the Pokemon Center! This one was--"

"Crystal?"

Crystal turned her head upon hearing the familiar voice, and she caught side of a familiar boy with a yellow Electric Mouse sitting on his shoulder.

"Hey, Gold!" Crystal smiled brightly upon catching sight of her friend from Jhoto. "How have you been doing?" She started to walk over to where he was standing on a dock.

"Pretty good," Gold responded. "Where were you a minute ago?"

"Rustburo." Crystal's smile broadened when Gold groaned and slammed a hand into his face. "I was probably out training with some of the local Trainers when you got there."

"You get the Gym Badge?" Ethan asked from Gold's shoulder.

"Yup! Samuel carried us all the way through that Gym." Crystal motioned to the Shroomish, who still looked a little confused at being out on a route rather than inside the Devon Corporation building. "President Stone told me that you had been looking for me and where I would be able to find you, so I came."

"Well, you came just in time," Gold said, recovering from his facepalm. "Mr. Briney is getting ready to leave, and he should be coming up to the dock with his boat soon."

"All right. Did you visit the Rustburo Gym, too?"

"Yeah. It was a little bit difficult, since none of my team members are all weak to those Pokemon, but Ethan managed to pull us through with an Iron Tail attack that he learned back in Jhoto."

The Pikachu puffed up his chest proudly when he heard Gold say that.

"Iron Tail...oh, right, Steel-Type attacks are good against Rock-Types." Crystal nodded slightly, remembering an encounter with the Steel-Type Gym Leader in Jhoto. "I heard that there's a Psychic-Type Gym somewhere in the region. That's going to be an interesting one to travel to."

Gold nodded in agreement as what sounded like a motor was heard out over the water. The two turned their heads and caught sight of a decently large motor boat coming up to the dock. A rope with a loop in it was suddenly thrown over the side and caught onto one of the dock's posts.

"Hey there, you two!" an old man on the boat greeted. "Might one of you happen to be Gold?"

"That'd be me, sir!" Gold replied, raising a hand in greeting. "And this is my friend, Crystal, and her two Pokemon." He motioned to the Trainer next to him, who nodded in greeting.

"Nice to meet ya! I'm Mr. Briney." The old man gave a broad grin. "You two are both headin' to Dewford to deliver a letter, then onto Slateport with those parts from Devon, right?"

"That's right," Gold confirmed, nodding.

"All right, then! Come on board -- I'll get ya to Dewford faster than a Zigzagoon can find a Nugget!" Mr. Briney laughed as Gold and Crystal walked up the dock and moved to get onto the ship; the Mewthree paused only to help Samuel get up on board so that he wouldn't be left behind. As soon as the group was on the ship, Mr. Briney grabbed the rope that was keeping the ship in place and brought it back on board with expert ease before starting up the motor again.

"So, are you kids doing the Gym Challenge too, then?" Briney asked as they started to move away from the land. When he received nods of confirmation from Crystal and Gold, he let out a whistle of amazement. "You kids have to be pretty brave, then, if you're going ahead and doing that while those hooligans are running around. They've stopped me sometimes out here with a huge Wailord just to scare any passengers I might happen to have on board."

"A what?" Crystal asked.

"It's the largest Pokemon that exists," Gold explained. "It's a large Water Pokemon -- big enough to carry the population of a small town on its back without any trouble."

Crystal's eyes widened in surprise when she heard that. "Wow...that is a big Pokemon."

"And downright annoying!" Mr. Briney declared shortly. "Do you have any idea how many times that stupid Pokemon has nearly capsized my boat? You'd think that it would be a little more careful!"

Richie nodded in agreement, then paused and looked up. Crystal gave him a curious look, then looked up herself before taking a step back out of surprise.

As Crystal stepped back, a shadow suddenly swooped over the deck, dropping a figure onto the wooden surface.

"Thanks for the ride!" A boy wearing a red, white, and black baseball cap waved at what appeared to be a retreating bird Pokemon before turning to look at Crystal, Mr. Briney, and Gold, who had stiffened in what appeared to be an attack stance.

Crystal felt cautious; who was this boy, and why was it that Gold reacted like that?


	19. Something is rotten on the island of Dewford!

While the intruder looked around the deck, Crystal took her chance to look him over, in order to see whether he was a threat of some kind. The teenage boy was wearing blue, mostly, with a red and white baseball cap hiding most of his dark brown hair. His eyes, though, were what really caught Crystal's attention.

They were as blue as the sky, and as sharp as a Flying Pokemon's when they were looking for prey. She'd seen that kind of expression before.

Did that mean...?

"Who are you?" Crystal asked cautiously. Her invisible tail flicked about, showing her nervousness more than her face was.

The sky blue eyes turned on her for a moment, and the boy blinked before holding up a hand. "You don't need to worry so much. I just came here to check out the situation. I don't even have my team on me." He motioned to the belt at his waist, where there wasn't a sign of even one of the stronger PokeBall variances.

"That doesn't tell us who you are, buddy," Samuel responded, puffing himself up. Crystal could tell he was ready to unleash a Stun Spore or a Leech Seed, but she wasn't exactly sure which and she wasn't about to try and figure it out.

"As for who I am...I'm Xavier. Xavier Calem." The intruder didn't look like he had understood what Samuel had been saying, judging by what he had said. "I'm a Bird Pokemon Trainer, just passing through the area on a friend of mine." He motioned up to the sky, where an unidentifiable shape was circling. Crystal could barely make out the white underbelly of the Pokemon, since she had to squint against the sun in order to be able to see it.

"Why'd you land on my ship?" Mr. Briney demanded, glaring at the young man. "Are you friends with that girl with the Wailord?"

"Ah...I wouldn't necessarily say that we're friends," Xavier replied carefully.

"What are you doing out here?" Gold asked, frowning. "You wouldn't be talking to us unless you had a good reason for it."

Crystal blinked when she heard that. "Gold, you know him?"

"I just came because I wanted to talk," Xavier replied. "I don't like fighting unless I absolutely have to; you know that."

"And that means you never like to get involved, either," Gold responded. "So what's going on?"

Xavier and Gold locked eyes for a moment, then Xavier looked around the still-moving boat at the others who were standing there and watching the exchange.

"I came here because I wanted to warn you against going to Dewford," Xavier said, a more serious expression overtaking his face.

Mr. Briney fingered the lever that controlled the speed of the boat, slowing their speed enough that they went down to a slow crawl. "You've got ten minutes at this speed to tell us why we shouldn't, and then we'll be at the island. I'll listen, but I can't say that I'll follow your advice -- Gold's got a letter from President Stone of Devon for someone on Dewford, and it's really important that it gets there."

Gold nodded in agreement. "And I'm going through the League challenge here, so I can challenge the Gym after I deliver the letter."

"We were planning on challenging it ourselves," Crystal added, sending Gold a curious glance. He still looked serious, but he looked more relaxed than he had been when Xavier had arrived.

Xavier shook his head. "I can't let you pass by. There's something dangerous going on there, and I don't want to see you getting involved. Innocent lives could be put on the line if you do that."

Ethan snorted from Gold's shoulder. "Like that's stopped us before. We took out those Team Rocket weirdoes in Jhoto without losing anybody. It's not like this'll be any different."

"I wouldn't be so cocky, Ethan," Xavier warned the Pikachu, an annoyed tone slipping into his voice. "There's more at stake here than there was back in your regions. The organization is starting to take more drastic plans since you two left."

Crystal's ears shot straight up in shock, and she quickly got into a defensive stance. "You're with Team Magnus?!"

Mr. Briney looked shocked when he heard that. "Oh, you've gotta be kidding...."

Xavier let out a sigh. "I thought that Gold would have told you about us already." The boy shook his head before turning his sky-blue gaze on Crystal. "Yes, I'm with them. But it isn't like I have a choice in the matter. I'm simply glad that they've taken into account that I don't like battling and would rather watch what's going on. As a result, they've given me the title of 'Flying Scout'."

"If you're with them, then why are you being nice and telling us that there's danger ahead?" Richie piped up.

"I think it's because he's telling us that Team Magnus is up to something," Ethan declared in reply.

Xavier let out another sigh, his shoulders sagging slightly. "Nothing I say to you is going to convince you to stay away from Dewford, I suppose."

"We have a letter to deliver, Team Magnus or no," Gold responded in all seriousness. "What's going on, Xavier?"

The "Flying Scout" hesitated for a moment, then let out a sigh and looked down at the deck. "Team Magnus sent one of us into the cave that's on the island and has had him terrorize the area. I've heard that he has a few hostages and is keeping the people from calling on stronger Trainers from the mainland for help. They sent him out there because his team in Littleroot was destroyed unexpectedly by a pair of Trainers with a Venasuar and a Blastoise."

Crystal's ears twitched when she heard that. Something about that statement sounded familiar...it took her a moment to remember what exactly it was that had happened.

"So, those Ground Types," Crystal murmured, putting two and two together. "They worked for this other Trainer, then?"

Xavier nodded. "I don't want you to get involved with what's going on."

"I'm not about to back down, Type advantage or no," Gold said determinedly.

"Ground-Types?" Samuel snorted. "I can take them. Just point me in the right direction and I'll Absorb the lot of them."

"I want to help, too," Richie added. "I've gotten stronger."

"Definitely," Crystal agreed, petting the Ralts. "And Ando might be able to help us, too." She looked down at the PokeBall on her belt. "I'll have to get to know him a little better before I send him into battle, though."

"Ando?" Ethan repeated, frowning.

"I'm not going to be able to stop you, am I?" Xavier asked, gaining a concerned expression. "You two are going to walk straight into a trap. You are aware of that, right?"

"Didn't stop me before," Gold shot back.

Xavier hesitated, considering the looks he was getting from the determined Pokemon, the Trainers, and the man behind the helm of the boat. His sky blue eyes scanned over the group before his eyes settled on the Flying Pokemon that was circling the boat above their heads. "All right. I can see that you all are very determined. I'm not about to get in the way of that, because I just came to warn you. But if you get yourselves captured, don't say that I didn't."

With that, Xavier raised an arm, and a black shadow zipped down from the sky and grabbed him before flying off. Crystal caught a flash of red, white, and black, but she wasn't able to fully see the Pokemon in order to know what to look up in her PokeDex.

"Well." Ethan watched Xavier go for a moment before looking at the others. "Looks like Dewford's got a problem."

"What is with that kid?" Mr. Briney asked, looking over at Gold as the boat started to move at a faster speed. "And how did he know you?"

Gold looked at Mr. Briney with a blank expression for a moment before letting out a sigh and shaking his head. "Mr. Briney, how much do you know about Magnus?"

The old man considered the question. "They're a group of troublemakers that's been causing more than enough trouble around Hoenn -- enough that Trainers from other regions are steering clear and no one's allowed to leave the region. I think I heard something about them wanting to make sure that those hooligans don't make it to other regions or something, so ferries in and out don't work."

"There's more to them than that." Gold's expression was becoming darker, more serious. "They're a group of scientists that have gone insane."

"In our opinion," Ethan added.

Crystal's ears and tail twitched nervously, and Richie looked at her in concern. "Scientists that have gone insane...? Is that why they decided to experiment with...." She trailed off, uncertain as to whether or not she wanted to say anything else in front of Mr. Briney.

Gold gave a nod, knowing where Crystal was going with her words. "Yeah. That's them."

"Would you two kids mind filling me in?" Mr. Briney asked, raising an eyebrow at the both of them.

Crystal and Gold looked over at Mr. Briney before exchanging glances.

"We don't have too long before we reach Dewford," Gold said. "I don't know if we'd have enough time to tell you everything."

Mr. Briney gained something of a smug expression. "You kids are going to need my help in order to get to Slateport, remember? I'm gonna be sticking around Dewford until you're done, and no one ever comes to bother me and my boat. How 'bout we talk here after you've taken care of delivering that letter and tackling the Gym?"

Gold and Crystal looked at each other again.

"Should we?" Crystal asked, frowning. "I don't want anyone else to get dragged into this unless we have to."

"Mr. Briney's had interactions with some of the members of Magnus already," Gold pointed out in reply. "And after this, it probably wouldn't be too good of an idea to leave him in the dark." He turned and looked at Mr. Briney. "All right, we'll fill you in on what's going on after we take care of whatever-it-is that Xavier was trying to warn us about."

"I'm glad that you're talking sense," Mr. Briney said, nodding. He pointed to something behind the two Trainers. "And just in time, too -- here's Dewford, just ahead."

Crystal, Gold, and their Pokemon turned around as the man said that, and they caught sight of a large, sandy island covered in rocks and a forest covering up part of the rocky coast. There was a collection of buildings there, as well, including what looked like a Pokemon Center and what appeared to be a Pokemon Gym.

Crystal moved to the edge of the boat and looked at the island that was ahead of them. "Wow. I wonder what kinds of Pokemon live there?"

"I'm planning on doing some poking around in order to find out," Gold commented, coming over to stand next to Crystal. "I'm going to need to diversify beyond Ethan and Strike if I'm going to be able to make it through the League."

"Maybe Ando will like this," Richie spoke up. "I mean, Pokemon like him used to live in the water, right?"

Crystal cocked her head slightly, considering both her friends' statements. "Yeah...this might be a good place to get to know him a little better, Richie."

"Know who better?" Gold blinked. "You mentioned an Ando earlier. Is that another Pokemon that you managed to pick up?"

Crystal nodded. "Yeah. The Devon Corporation somehow managed to make a machine that was able to revive extinct Pokemon. I've got the first one that they managed to revive; it's called an Anorith." She motioned to the only full PokeBall on her belt.

"Why don't you have him out?" Ethan leaned forward a little, but not too far -- he didn't want to fall off Gold's shoulder.

"He's a little primitive -- I mean, he can only respond using emotions at the moment." Crystal rubbed the back of her head. "I had been hoping to take him to a place that might remind him of his original habitat at least a little bit before I tried to talk to him in order to get to know him a little better. Maybe I can do that here."

It didn't take too long for Mr. Briney to side up next to the dock jutting out from the island, expertly turning the ship around so that they would be able to leave the island as quickly as they had arrived. As the old man was making sure that the ship wasn't going to drift out to sea, however, he paused after dropping anchor and tying the ship to the dock.

"Something's wrong," Mr. Briney muttered, looking around.

Crystal frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, normally, this place is practically buzzing with noise from the locals," Mr. Briney explained. "They're always talking about some new thing from the mainland -- in fact, they would have swarmed the dock by now in order to pester us about what's going on. He looked around at the empty beach. "This is way too quiet."

Crystal's frown deepened when she heard that, herself and Richie practically radiating concern. "What do you think could have happened, then?" She looked over at Gold. "Do you think it might have something to do with what Xavier was talking about?"

"Probably." Gold looked around the area again. "Considering all this sand that we have lying around...we should probably be careful of where we step. There could be quicksand."

"Quicksand?" Mr. Briney snorted. "Dewford hasn't had any problems with quicksand. What makes you think they've got problems with it now?"

"There was a group of Ground-Type Trainers from Magnus stationed out in Littleroot," Gold explained. "Everyone from there had managed to escape to Oldale, but Professor Birch wasn't able to get access to his lab. We took them out, so the leader of that unit ended up out here. Since he controls Ground-Types, they could cause patches of the sand to turn into quicksand."

"How do you know?" Crystal asked, cocking her head to one side.

"I've seen what he can do sometimes." Upon seeing the curious looks he was getting, Gold explained, "His name's Diamond, and he's from Sinnoh. He's a Ground-Type specialist."

Crystal's ears twitched. "Like Lauraina was a Poison-Type specialist."

When Gold gave a nod of confirmation, Crystal frowned.

"If there's someone around with Ground-Types causing trouble, then I might be able to help." Mr. Briney started to pull out a PokeBall. "Peeko here would be able to take care of any Ground-Types easily with a blast from her Water Gun."

Gold shook his head. "It's not going to be that easy. In order to take care of Diamond, we have to find him. If he's set up quicksand traps all over the island, then it's going to be hard to get to him. We don't even know where it is that he's hiding out."

Mr. Briney frowned at that. "Why don't you ask your flying friend up there? He'd probably be able to fly you there easily."

"He's probably long gone by now. We've got to take care of Diamond ourselves." Gold looked at Crystal. "You think you can do this?"

"There shouldn't be too much of a problem in taking him out," Crystal replied. "I don't know if I'd be all that good at sensing traps, though." She blinked, noticing something that Gold had said. "And what do you mean, 'you'? Shouldn't it be 'we'?"

"I'm weak to Ground-Type attacks," Gold responded. "Remember? We waved a hand, causing small sparks to fly off it. "I don't know what's going to happen if I end up encountering a Mud Shot or an Earthquake right now, but I don't want to find out unless I can hold onto a Flying-Type -- which I don't have at the moment."

"What are you two talking about?" Mr. Briney asked, suddenly gaining a suspicious expression.

Crystal turned to look at Mr. Briney, sizing him up. It was obvious that the man was smart and was already starting to suspect a few things, and Crystal wondered if he was considering whether or not he could trust them. Especially considering Xavier's sudden appearance.

"Sir, there are a lot of things about the two of us that aren't exactly discussible in broad daylight," Crystal said finally. "Could you wait here while I see what I can do about the quicksand and the missing people? I'll make sure to explain when I get back."

Gold looked at Crystal like she was crazy.

Mr. Briney blinked a couple times when he heard that, looking for all the world like he was trying to figure Crystal out. After a moment, however, he gave what looked like a gruff nod. "All right. I'll be waiting right here for ya."

Crystal nodded in response, then looked at the two Pokemon on her team who happened to be out. "Samuel, Richie, I need you guys to either hold onto me tightly or go into your PokeBalls. I don't know how I'm going to be able to carry you separately in what I'm going to do next."

"What do you mean?" Richie asked in confusion.

"If you're doing something else like that Teleport, I think I'll just wait in the Ball until you're done," Samuel said. With that, he recalled himself into his PokeBall and disappeared from sight.

"Samuel is half-right," Crystal told the Ralts. When Richie heard this, he simply pressed himself more closely to his Trainer, gaining a chuckle from the girl before she started to let the energy flow. Instantly, she felt lighter -- almost like she wasn't connected to the ground -- and Crystal stepped off the ship and into the air a few inches above the sand.

Mr. Briney let out a gasp behind her while Gold muttered something. In response to that, Ethan burst out into laughter.

"Wow!" Richie looked down as Crystal continued walking, watching as quicksand traps tried to start underneath her, only to fail when there was nothing to suck in. "Do you think you could teach me how to do this?"

"Maybe when you get stronger," Crystal responded, amused. "Come on; let's have a look around. Maybe your emotion sensor will be able to see if there's anyone nearby."

"Okay." Richie gave a determined nod, then turned and looked out at the island as Crystal started hovering towards the houses. The Mewthree expanded her mental awareness as well, wondering if she would be able to brush up against any humans and Pokemon nearby without freaking out anyone.

Crystal walked up to one of the houses and peered into a window, only to be met with the sight of a dark room.

"I don't think there's anyone in there," Richie piped up from Crystal's shoulder. "I don't feel anybody being afraid or anything like that."

"I don't sense anyone, either," Crystal confirmed, frowning. She backed away from the house and moved to the next one, only to be met with the same sight. "This is strange...do you think the entire town is like this?"

"If it is, then where did all the people go?" Richie asked, concerned.

"They might still be on the island," Crystal responded. She looked up at the rocky ridge that rose up at the edge of the town. "Maybe there's something over there. Hang on tight, okay? It might get a little windy when we go higher."

"You can go higher?" Richie asked in surprise. "Can you fly like a bird Pokemon, then?"

Crystal smiled slightly at the question. "Not really. I can fly, but not as high or as long as some bird Pokemon." She started to rise up from the ground. "This is actually a Psychic technique that my brother and I both know. It's called Telekinesis."

"Te-le-kin-e-sis." Richie tried the word out, frowning under his green helmet. "That's a long word."

Crystal chuckled. "It is." The Trainer looked down at the ground, noticing that they were nearly at the rooftops of the houses now. "It's very helpful, though." She started to move slowly in the air, circling the town for a moment before heading towards the rocky ridge covered in trees. "Maybe we can find the townspeople hiding among the trees up here...."

"Oo! I haven't seen a flying human before!"

Crystal paused in surprise when she heard the unfamiliar voice, and turned her head in order to see where the voice was coming from. She blinked a couple times when she saw a small red, black, and white bird flapping its wings rapidly in order to stay in the same place in the air.

"What kind of human are you?" the Pokemon asked, cocking its head slightly for a moment.

"I'm a human, and I'm a Pokemon," Crystal responded simply. She let her ears and tail appear, dropping the illusion and making the Pokemon gasp. "My name is Crystal; I'm from Kanto. And this is Richie, a Ralts. Who are you?"

"I'm a Tailow!" the bird Pokemon replied proudly. "My nest is down there in those trees. I like to go down into the human town sometimes and see if there are any Trainers who might want to have me join their team."

"There isn't anybody in town, though," Richie pointed out. "Do you know where it is that everyone's gone?"

"The humans?" Tailow cocked his head for a moment. "They've been going into the cave on the island. I don't like going in there -- those Zubat are scary when they want to be." The Flying Pokemon shuddered reflexively, sensing the vibrations through his wings. "The humans that go in don't come out, though."

"A cave?" Crystal's ears perked up in interest. "Could you show us where it is? We're looking into why the humans are disappearing."

"Really?" Tailow looked amazed. "I can help you with that! Come on -- the cave's this way!" The Flying Pokemon turned in the air and started gliding along the rocky ridge. Crystal started after him, gliding a little more slowly, but not slow enough that Tailow would have gotten out of her sight.

"Why do you think they could have gone into the cave?" Richie asked, looking at Crystal curiously.

"It's based off a way of thinking that humans call 'process of elimination', I think," Crystal replied. "The locals aren't living in their homes, so we can't ask them what's going on. The ridge would have been my next choice, since I didn't know about the cave, but when the Tailow mentioned that he had seen them going into a cave on the island and not coming out, it's likely that they're going to be in there. It makes sense, too, since the person that Gold mentioned, Diamond, is a Ground-Type. So he'd probably want to be somewhere underground for his base."

Tailow led Crystal and Richie around the edge of the rocky ridge and flew close enough to the ground that he could have nearly landed on the sand, but he pulled up at the last second and landed on a rocky ledge above the cave entrance.

"This is it," Tailow said, looking down at the cave entrance while Crystal hovered a few inches above the sand. "The humans call it Granite Cave because of all the evolution stones that they can find in there. I don't need them, though."

Crystal blinked, storing away that information for later. She gave a slight smile and a nod. "Thanks for showing us where this is. I wouldn't have thought that there was a cave out here on this island."

"No problem!" Tailow chirped happily. Then he cocked his head. "Hey, were there other humans that you came here with? Like that old man who always brings in new people?"

"Yeah, actually -- they're back on the boat now by the town." Crystal pointed back in the direction of the town. "Do you think you could fly over there and let them know that we are going to enter Granite Cave to have a look around?"

"Sure! No problem!" Tailow made a motion with one wing, then took off from the rocky ledge and flew off in the direction that they had come. Once he was out of sight, Crystal turned her attention to the cave opening in front of them.

"You ready?" Crystal asked, looking at the Ralts on her shoulder.

Richie hesitated for a moment, then made a nervous swallowing noise before nodding slightly. "I guess so."

"Don't worry -- I'll be fighting right by your side if we end up running into anyone dangerous," Crystal said reassuringly. She looked at the cave and took in a breath for a moment before starting forward into the cave entrance.


	20. Granite Cave

Inside Granite Cave, the light from outside slipped in past Crystal, showing the rocky ground inside. A few rocks ere scattered around in the area, but it didn't look like there were any Pokemon near the entrance.

"I don't think there's anyone here...." Richie commented, sounding worried.

Crystal hummed in response to the statement. "I think that the cave is bigger than it looks. There are some caves in Kanto and Jhoto that are like that, too. Like the Unknown Dungeon." She started to hover forwards, entering the cave. Her tail twitched with caution and nervousness as she looked around, pausing a few feet inside. "I don't think I've seen a cave where there have been no Pokemon at the entrance, though. Something must be wrong if Pokemon aren't coming out to greet us."

"Yeah..." Richie's voice gained a worried tone. "Do you think that person that Gold mentioned is doing something to the Pokemon here?"

"Maybe...we'll have to find out sooner or later, though." Crystal looked at Richie. "Are you ready for this?"

Richie hesitated for a moment, then gave a slight nod. "Yeah."

"All right." Crystal started further into the cave, remaining in the air in order to avoid any possible traps that could end up being hidden in the cave floor. "It looks like there's an entrance up ahead that goes deeper into the cave. Maybe that's where the Ground-Type that Gold mentioned is hiding out."

"Will we need Samuel? And Ando?"

Crystal considered that as she approached the next cave entrance. "We probably will. From what I remember, Ground-Types don't like Grass-Types very much. I'm not very good with most attacks that aren't Psychic or Fighting-Types, so Samuel will be a lot of help here, I think. I'll bring him out when we actually start running into Trainers and Pokemon with that Type. I don't think that they like Fighting-Types very much, either, so maybe, if we run into stronger Trainers, I can take care of them. As for Ando...." Crystal paused. "I don't know if I want to actually use him yet. He's pretty simple. I would have to teach him for a few things before I'd know that I can use him in battle."

Crystal passed through the hole in the cave wall, entering another section of the cave. She blinked when she saw that all that was there was a ladder that to a floor below.

"Looks like we're going to have to go deeper," Crystal murmured, frowning slightly. "Here we go." She started to lower herself down the hole, being careful to not bump into the sides of the hole the ladder was extended down. It wasn't too long before she had reached the base of the ladder.

"It looks really dark," Richie said worriedly, looking around at the darkness beyond the hole they were underneath.

Crystal hummed in response, frowning slightly. "I think I know a move that could work...you might want to cover your eyes, Richie. I'll let you know when it's okay for you to open them again, all right?"

"Kay." Richie moved his paws under his helmet. "I'm ready."

"Okay. Here we go."

Crystal started to gather together the energy that she was going to need for the move that she was going to use. Then she dropped her illusion and released the energy that she was holding back.

Instead of an attack, however, Crystal's entire body started glowing.

"Okay, Richie," Crystal said. "Take your time. I don't want to blind you by accident."

Richie moved slowly, carefully, lowering his paws from his eyes. He blinked a couple times before looking over at Crystal and letting out a gasp of surprise. "You're glowing!"

"It's called Flash," Crystal explained. "I've used it a couple times to light up dark caves. I learned it from a Pokemon called an Ampheros. They've got lights on the ends of their tails and are used in lighthouses in Jhoto."

"Wow. What do they look like?"

Crystal smiled slightly. "I'll show you the picture I have in my PokeDex when we get out of this cave, all right?" The Mewthree started to look around the cave, ears swiveling around. "Right now, I want to try and find out what's going on. That bird Pokemon said that people were disappearing into this cave...so maybe we can find one of them in here." She slowly turned, then started to hover away from the ladder. "We're going to have to be very careful in looking around. I don't know if we're going to end up running into any traps, and I can't see too well beyond a short distance. If I make my Flash any brighter, I could end up blinding you and any Pokemon in the area, so this is the best we can do."

Richie nodded slightly. "Which way?"

Crystal hummed, pausing for a moment in the darkness. "I think..." She turned to the left and looked down what appeared to be a path that had been carved into the rock. "This way -- for now, at least. It looks almost like someone made this path, rather than the wild Pokemon carving it out."

"Who made it?"

Crystal frowned. "Probably the one who is causing all this trouble in the first place. But who--"

There came a sudden explosion of noise from somewhere deeper in the depths of the cave, and Crystal turned her head sharply in order to try and find the source.

"H-help me!" A little, four-legged white round lump of a Pokemon was running as fast as it could in order to get away from a large, rolling gray boulder that seemed to have a large grin on its face. "Waaaah!"

Crystal's eyes widened when she saw that, and she quickly grabbed a PokeBall from her belt and threw it forward. "Samuel! Leech Seed that Graveler to keep it in place!"

The Shroomish exploded from his capsule with a huff, and the seeds exploded from the top of his head. They slammed into the ground just seconds before the Graveler passed over them, causing vines to sprout up and wrap around the Pokemon.

The little white Pokemon that had been running tripped and fell head over heels, rolling a couple times before finally coming to a stop. He lifted his head and looked back at the entrapped Graveler in surprise before noticing that Crystal was hovering closer.

"I'm glad to have you around." Crystal nodded to Samuel. "I'm not all that good at Grass or Water attacks."

Samuel spluttered and looked away quickly. Crystal gave him an amused expression.

"Richie, Samuel, do you think you can tag-team the Graveler and figure out who sent him? I'm going to make sure that the Pokemon he was chasing is all right."

"Sure!" Richie slid down Crystal's back and down her leg, landing on the ground next to Samuel.

The Shroomish huffed. "Too easy."

"I wouldn't be so sure. Graveler can be known to have quite explosive personalities sometimes." Crystal gave both her Pokemon warning looks, then turned her attention to the little white Pokemon. "Are you all right?"

The Pokemon blinked blankly for a moment, then nodded. "Y-yeah. How can you fly?"

Crystal blinked at the question, before gaining an amused smile while tuning out the sounds of her two Pokemon attacking the Graveler. "It's something that I've always been able to do. It helps when I'm trying to make it a point to avoid any possible traps on the ground. Did you end up setting one off?"

The little white Pokemon shook his head. "No. There are these two Trainers -- they really want to capture me, but they're doing mean things to the humans that they've captured. I don't want to be trained by them!"

There came a laugh from the Graveler, but it was quickly cut off by Richie yelling, "Confusion!"

"Now tell us where your Trainer is, you stupid hunk of dirt!" Samuel ordered. "Or I'll Absorb you to death!"

"They're doing something to humans?" Crystal asked, one ear twitching as she frowned.

"They're all caught in these giant rock cocoons like they're Bug Pokemon! A-and one of the Trainers keeps going and beating up on some of them! I wanted to try and help, but I'm too little and weak to be able to do anything!" The Pokemon ducked his head and started whimpering.

"Hey, it's okay." Crystal put a hand on the little Pokemon's head and was surprised to find that it felt like metal. "We came down here because we had heard that people had disappeared, and we want to rescue them."

The little Pokemon lifted his head. "You do?"

Crystal nodded. "Yeah. Do you think you can help us navigate these caves? My two Pokemon probably won't be able to get anything out of the Graveler over there -- the ones I've known have been extremely stubborn in the past."

Richie and Samuel suddenly ran over to Crystal with uneasy expressions, moving to stand on either side of the little Pokemon Crystal had been talking to. Both of them looked like they were trying to escape something.

Crystal's ears twitched as a high-pitched whine reached them, and she instantly reacted by putting up a blue dome over herself and the three smaller Pokemon. And just in time, as well.

"EXPLOSION!"

_BOOM._

Debris and smoke were sent flying from where the Graveler was, bouncing off the Protect with a noise that sounded similar to a rubber ball hitting a wall. Within a few seconds, the smoke cleared and the bouncing noises stopped, letting Crystal know she could release the move safely.

"Thanks, Crystal," Richie said, relieved.

"Don't mention it," Crystal replied. She glanced over her shoulder at the now-fainted Graveler, lying on its back with its feet sticking up in the air. "We should probably get moving before it wakes up. It won't be able to use any named attacks for a while, but it probably would still be able to charge us."

"H-how did you _do_ that?" The little white Pokemon stared at Crystal with wide, blue eyes."

"Well, let's just say that I'm not like normal humans," Crystal replied. "Do you think you could help us get to where the humans are being held? We would probably find them eventually even if you didn't, so you don't have to."

The Pokemon shook his head. "You're going to need my help! One of the humans keeps changing what the cave is supposed to be, and you guys wouldn't be able to notice if you were led in circles!"

Samuel scowled. "Why you--"

"So you'll help us?" Richie smiled brightly.

"Sure! I want to help rescue the humans, too!" The little white Pokemon lifted his head proudly. "I'm an Aron, and Aron are supposed to protect these caves and help guide Trainers if they want help! That's what my big brother's always telling me!"

Crystal smiled. "And we'd really appreciate the help, too. Do you have a name -- besides what Pokemon you are, I mean."

"Yeah." The Aron stood a little straighter. "A Trainer came through a couple days ago and named all of us! He called me Aaron!" He paused, then deflated a moment later. "That Trainer was caught with the others, though...."

"We'll rescue him!" Richie said. "Crystal's helped people and places before. She'll help here, too!"

"Really?" Aaron looked up at Crystal with wide eyes.

Crystal nodded. "We're going to have to move if we're going to rescue them. We'll help keep the Graveler and whatever Pokemon are in here off your back as we head deeper into the cave."

"Thanks. I'm used to having to deal with the Geodude and Zubat around here, but Graveler are something else!" Aaron glared at the knocked out Pokemon, then looked back up at Crystal. "We should probably go before another one comes after me."

Crystal nodded in agreement. "Sounds good to me. Lead the way, Aaron."

Aaron smiled at Crystal's words, then moved around Crystal and started to move along the cave floor at a decent pace -- one that Richie and Samuel could keep up with. Crystal hovered over them, still keeping the Flash's gentle glow on her body.

 _"Where did the Graveler come from?"_ Crystal asked. _"If you haven't had to deal with them before."_

Aaron nearly jumped into the air. "I just heard you in my head!"

_"Yes, you did -- it's an ability of mine. I'm doing this so that the wild Pokemon won't be able to hear me."_

"Oh! They came with the Trainers that captured the other humans." Aaron took a turn in the cave's path, the other three following after him. "They're all meanies."

_"I can imagine. I've met a lot of Pokemon that have been meanies."_

"What kind of Pokemon?" Richie asked, curious.

The amused expression had been gradually disappearing from Crystal's face, and there was now an almost haunted expression in her eyes. _"The kind that let darkness into their hearts."_

Richie shuddered while Samuel frowned.

"That doesn't sound very nice." Aaron shook his head, but he didn't turn around or look up at Crystal. "The Pokemon around here are grumpy, but they're not...like that. My big brother says that a mean human can made a grumpy Pokemon mean, but I haven't seen a mean Pokemon like that Rock one before."

 _"Hopefully, this will be the only time that a mean Pokemon like that is here in this cave,"_ Crystal replied. _"I wouldn't wish that kind of Pokemon or human to be near anyone."_

No one said anything as they continued deeper into the cave; Crystal looked around almost constantly, scanning the cave around them for enemy Pokemon and making sure that Aaron was still in front of them.

 _"It's strange...there aren't any other wild Pokémon around here."_ Crystal frowned as her tail twitched. _"I'm not sensing anything."_

Richie looked up at the statement, and took a look around. "Yeah...it feels funny."

"All the other Pokémon are staying away," Aaron spoke up. "They're hiding in the deeper parts of the cave so that the stronger Pokémon and those humans can't go after them. I wanted to help the humans that were captured, but--"

_"You ran into the Graveler."_

Aaron nodded, his head lowering.

_"Don't worry -- you've got us to back you up now."_

Something rumbled somewhere ahead of them. Crystal's ears swiveled in order to find the source of the noise.

Samuel muttered something under his breath, puffing himself up.

Richie hummed nervously. "Something bad's up ahead...."

Aaron stopped and shifted his stance so that his legs were spread out a little -- a precaution against getting knocked over. "It's a big Pokémon -- I can feel it in the ground."

Crystal hummed, frowning, then increased the power in the Flash. A small sphere of light suddenly rose up into the air above her and released a bright flash that filled the entire cave.

Richie took a step back, releasing nervousness as he saw what exactly it was that was in front of them. "That's a lot of Pokémon!"

Crystal's eyes quickly ran over the group that was in front of them. _"Graveler and Sandslash -- they're both at least part Ground. And...Magnemite? Those are Steel and Electric-Types. There's at least five of each in front of us."_

"I can take them," Samuel said, stepping forward.

_"Not all of them. You and Richie spent a long time fighting against one Graveler -- how well would you do against five?"_

Samuel flinched at the question.

"What are we going to do?" Richie asked.

 _"I'll take some of them. You guys take on one of the Graveler --_ maybe _two, if you can get them to explode. I know a few techniques that could take care of the Magnemite, and I'm going to get rid of them first."_ Crystal fingered a PokeBall on her waist for a moment, then tossed it forward. The armored form of Ando popped out and landed on the ground next to Richie, who looked at him in confusion. _"Anorith -- Ando -- this will be the first time that you're anywhere, right?"_

Crystal's voice was full of emotion now -- even more full of emotion than she had been putting into her voice before.

Ando raised the two claws on the front of his body and clicked something in response. Crystal sensed what felt like confirmation coming back from the Pokémon.

_"Okay. See those rocky Pokémon in front of us? The ones that look like giant boulders? They're strong enemies. I want you to work together with Richie, Aaron, and Samuel in order to knock them out. Be careful -- they can explode sometimes. Do you understand?"_

Crystal received the same feeling back from Ando, and gave a nod.

_"All right, you guys. I'll take care of the Magnemite, like I said. Are you guys ready?"_

"Yeah!" Samuel puffed himself up again. "Let's go already!"

Crystal nodded. "All right. Go!"

At the verbally spoken command, Samuel dashed forward, seeds exploding from the top of his body while Crystal started to focus her power on the idea of the feeling of _warmth._

_Come on, come on...you learned how to do this pretty easily from that Cyndaquil, I don't see why you can't recreate it now!_

Samuel's seeds landed, hitting two Graveler and one of the sharp-clawed, spine-covered Pokemon while the others were dodged and left lying on the cave floor. The Magnemite spun around in the air, charging up electricity by letting it jump from magnet to magnet, with bigger sparks running through each time. The four Sandslash and three Graveler that hadn't been caught in the Leech Seed started rolling around the cave, weaving behind rocks jutting up from the cave floor as Ando tried to shoot Water Guns at them.

Crystal spared Ando a glance and sent a feeling of approval and encouragement in his direction as that warm feeling reached the level that she wanted it to be at.

"All right." Crystal took in a deep breath and, aiming for the Magnemite in the center, blew out as hard as she could. _"Flamethrower!"_

_Fwoosh!_

A stream of red and yellow flames shot from Crystal's mouth and towards the Magnemites, hitting two of them and disconnecting the line of electricity that was being created between the five Electric/Steel-Types. The resulting disconnection caused the three remaining Magnemites to go spinning wildly, electricity flying from their magnets. One of them collided with the cave wall, causing an explosion of dust and a small number of rocks to fall from the ceiling. When the dust had cleared, the Pokemon that had collided with the wall was embedded in it, clearly knocked out, and the two that Crystal had clearly hit with her attack were lying on the ground and covered in burns.

This left two Magnemites still hovering in the air, looking disoriented while Samuel, Richie, Ando, and Aaron continued to run around, trying to attack the Graveler and Sandslash and were rolling and running around to dodge their attacks.

Crystal frowned at the two still-conscious Magnemites. "I hadn't expected that...I should be able to take those two out with my next attack." Her tail curled a little as she brought her arms up, palms open and facing the two remaining Electric/Steel-Types. "Psyshock!"

Small, glowing purple energy spheres appeared around Crystal's hands, and they shot forward and slammed into the two Magnemites, sending them spinning away from each other and into the cave walls. When the dust cleared, it showed that both of them had been knocked out rather easily.

Crystal let out a sigh of relief. "I knew having Alak teach me that was a good thing."

"Metal Claw!"

A brown flash suddenly shot towards Crystal, and shining claws dug into her right leg. She let out a cry of pain and quickly pulled back as the Sandslash dropped down to the ground, taking shreddings from Crystals jeans with it.

"Head Smash!" Aaron rammed into the Sandslash, sending the Ground-Type skidding back a short distance while Crystal gripped her leg in both hands, hissing in pain as she inspected the damage. "Crystal, are you all right?"

Crystal grunted, then hissed as she looked at the shallow cuts that had been made in her leg. "I-I'm fine, Aaron."

"No, you're not!" Richie came over next to the Aron and looked at his Trainer worriedly. "You're bleeding!"

"I just need to use Recover, and I'll be fine," Crystal replied. She looked around the cave and noticed that the Graveler and Sandslash were regrouping -- some of them looking a little wet. "You guys did a good job weakening them. You might all want to get behind me, now."

"Get behind you?" Aaron repeated. "Why?"

"Because I'm about to use an attack that could end up knocking you out, and I don't want to end up hurting any of you."

At that statement, Richie scrambled behind his Trainer, Aaron blinking for a moment before following the Ralts' lead. Not but a moment later, Samuel and Ando had arrived at their hiding place, as well.

"All right. It's been a long time since I last used this attack." Crystal brought her hands together in front of her, then moved them so that one was below the other, palms facing each other. "I hope this works and I haven't gone rusty...."

Crystal took in a breath and focused her energy on the space between her open palms, thinking about attempting to hold a sphere of energy there. She hadn't used this attack in quite some time because there was another, similar attack that she had gotten used to. However, that didn't mean that she had forgotten completely about _this_ particular attack.

A bright orange light started to glow between Crystal's hands as the energy gathered, and Crystal quickly shifted her hands and forced the glowing energy ball forward, calling out the name of the attack loud and clear:

"Focus Blast!"


	21. Mural Cavern

The cave that was deepest inside the Granite Cave was known by a number of researchers, Ruin Maniacs, and others interested specifically in ancient prehistoric history. The interesting murals that were painted onto the walls had been under constant debate from different factions, but everyone agreed that it was important.

Although, right now, while the cavern had people inside it, none of them were thinking about looking up at the murals.

A silver-haired young man frowned as he tried to push against his rocky bonds. He still couldn't reach his PokeBalls, considering his arms were held tightly behind his back, but that didn't stop him from trying to struggle in order to loosen the rocky cocoon he was trapped in.

"Dude, there's no way that you're going to be able to break lose," spoke up a blue-haired, muscular man next to him. "I'm the muscleman around here, and I haven't been able to break out of these things."

"Don't underestimate me, Brawly," the silver-haired man replied. "I don't have my title for nothing."

"Yeah, but you need to be able to get to your 'mons, remember?" Brawly gave a dry smile. "Come on, Steven."

"You forget that I traveled across Hoenn like everyone else before I became who I am today," Steven replied.

"But you haven't been working out."

"Will you two shut up?!" barked one of the few people who stood freely. "I don't want to have to come over there."

Brawly sent the figure a sour frown before looking back at Steven. "Look, if we're going to get out here, we're going to have to wait for someone to come from the mainland. Maybe one of the Elite Four."

_BOOM!_

A sudden explosion caused the cave to shake and rocks to fall from the ceiling. Steven and Brawly would have tried to roll away in order to avoid getting hit, but the rocky cocoon that was keeping them from reaching their PokeBalls also kept them from moving.

Fortunately, the rock also kept most of their bodies protected from any rocks that could have fallen their way.

"What was that?!" someone else in the cave yelped. The rest of the Dewford residents quickly followed with mixed reactions to Granite Cave's shaking:

"Are there people up there that are working their way through the cave?"

"Those people are going to collapse the cave and leave us here to die!"

"Those Pokemon are going to destroy the cave!"

"Shut UP!" A redhead teenage boy shouted from the raised rock platform in front of the mural. "We're working here!"

"Silver, you don't have to be so strict about it," remarked the lazy-looking teenage boy next to the redhead. "I'm not really all that bothered by it."

"Well, _I_ am," came the snapped response. "And that explosion up there isn't helping matters. My Pokemon don't use Explosion or Self-Destruct, so that's gotta be one of yours."

The other boy frowned, then slowly got down into a crouch and placed his hand on the ground, closing his eyes in concentration as the ground seemed to shift and bubble under his hand. "Hmm....The cave above us has changed. It feels like something exploded. There are a lot of knocked out Pokemon, too."

"What?" Silver turned sharply, frowning. "Knocked out Pokemon? Your Pokemon tried to take out some of the wild ones?"

"Ah...." The other boy frowned. "I don't think that's it...."

Steven frowned at that. "What is it that they're talking about?"

"I don't know, but something's definitely got them riled up." Brawly grinned. "I can feel my 'mons wiggling their Balls. Something big's gonna happen -- I can feel it."

"There's definitely a tension in the air," Steven admitted. "But...where's the source?"

"Wow, Crystal! That was awesome! You took out all of them in one attack!"

Steven's ears nearly twitched when he heard the distinct, metallic tone of a Steel-Type Pokemon speaking. The only Steel-Types he knew in the area that spoke like that were the Aron that lived in a hidden colony in Granite Cave -- and the two boys had only brought Magnemite with them, and they spoke with a more robotic tone than anything else.

So...if an Aron was speaking...who was Crystal?

"I-it was nothing, really, Aaron," came a response from one end of the cave. Steven turned his head as best he could as he and the other trapped hostages tried to see where the voices were coming from.

"I wasn't expecting the Graveler to respond with a Self-Destruct like that, but at least it helped us find the entrance to this cave," commented a girl's voice.

Steven blinked. _A Trainer?_

"Why was the ladder covered?" asked an innocent voice -- another Pokemon, Steven noticed -- a Ralts.

"They might not have wanted anyone to find it...or maybe to let anyone get out."

A small group of figures emerged from the darkness at the other end of the cavern, and Steven's eyes widened in shock when he saw who was stepping out into the light.

**Crystal's POV -- 3rd**

Crystal froze, her ears shooting up and her tail stiffening upwards as soon as she saw the large number of people that were pretty much pinned to the cave floor.

"Oh, no." Crystal's eyes were wide as she looked around the room, remembering that she hadn't had her ears _or_ tail hidden since she had entered the cave. She hadn't known how deep the cave was, either, so the sight of all the humans -- the Dewford residents, she assumed -- surprised and unnerved her at the same time.

"Ah! Steven!" Aaron started running towards one of the humans trapped in what looked like a rocky cocoon, leaving only the head sticking out. "I came to rescue you! And I brought help!"

"Aaron!" Silver eyes widened in recognition.

"Magneton! Get that Aron!" The redhead standing in front of the mural tossed out a PokeBall, releasing what looked like a three-headed Magnemite.

"UNDERSTOOD." The magnets on the Pokemon shifted as it started moving towards Aaron, who slowed when he saw the larger Pokemon coming towards him.

Crystal gritted her teeth a little and held a hand out, palm facing the Magneton. "Psyshock!"

The explosion of psychic energy sent the Magneton reeling in the air; it nearly collapsed to the ground, but it managed to catch itself and hovered low on the ground...until Samuel launched a Leech Seed covered in Stun Spore powder. Sparking and becoming ensnared in vines, the Magneton collapsed to the ground, twitching a few times before stilling.

Samuel puffed himself out, as though he was trying to make himself bigger. "Ha! Take that!"

Ando raised his claws in the air and made a clicking noise that Crystal couldn't quite decipher, but the feeling she got from the Anorith was approval. She nodded down to the Pokemon before turning her attention to the redhead and the other boy on the other side of the room.

"I think I know you...." Crystal frowned. "You're Silver -- the Trainer Gold was a rival against in Jhoto. I remember seeing you near Goldenrod's Radio Tower."

The redhead stiffened at the statement. "You--"

"Who are you?" The boy wearing the red cap with the PokeBall symbol cocked his head in confusion. "I haven't seen you before. And you look a lot like someone who--"

Silver slapped a hand over the other boy's mouth. "Diamond. Shut. Up."

"Diamond...?" Crystal frowned. "He must be the Ground-Type that Gold warned us about. "

"Hey, Crystal!" Aaron turned around and looked over at Crystal from where he was standing in front of Steven. "It looks like they're stuck in sand and rock or something! I might be able to get them loose, but I don't want to hurt anyone by accident!"

"We might want to find another way then, Aaron," Crystal responded as her tail twitched. She could feel the eyes of everyone in the room on her, and she was doing her best to ignore them, but it was starting to get a little difficult.

"How about you try to beat us, and we'll let them go if you win?"

" _Diamond!_ SHUT UP!" Silver sent a dark glare at the other boy, who ignored it in favor of looking at Crystal.

Crystal couldn't help but feel hesitant, not sure whether or not she should trust those two. There was definitely something about Silver and Diamond that didn't feel like normal auras -- and she didn't know how she hadn't noticed it before when she had seen Silver back in Jhoto.

Then she noticed that there was something strange about the redhead's outfit. It was clear that he was wearing a short-sleeved red shirt, rather than the red jacket that he had been wearing in Jhoto. _But his arms still looked like they were wearing steely red sleeves._

Crystal's eyes widened. "No way...you're like Gold and that Crobat woman that was in the Petalburg Woods! Silver, are you a Steel-Type or something?"

Silver stiffened again, looking like he wanted to strangle something.

Diamond blinked. "Oh, you know about that?" He let out a sigh. "I guess we'll have to bring you in, then...." He pulled a PokeBall off the belt at his waist and got ready to throw it when Silver put an arm in front of him.

"I'll take care of her," Silver said, gaining something of a sneering expression. "She's one of those weak Trainers like Gold who likes to rely on friendship and stupid things like that with their teams. With those little weak Pokemon with her? I'll be able to take her on easily." The redhead grabbed a PokeBall from around his waist and tossed it high. "Scyther, take those pipsqueaks down!"

The Ball exploded open, releasing a green Bug-Type with scythes for arms. "Oh, boy! Fresh meat!"

"I'm not about to let you take all the fun." Diamond readied his own PokeBall. "Turtwig, let's go!"

The Ball opened with a bright flash, and a green, four-legged Pokemon with a sprout growing out of the top of its head landed on the ground in front of Diamond. "Okay! I'm ready!"

When Crystal heard the voice of the Pokemon, she was startled to hear how _young_ he sounded -- the Scyther was definitely older. So, what did that say about Diamond?

"Richie, you're not going to be able to do much against that Scyther," Crystal warned. "It's a Bug-Type. I don't recognize that Turtwig, but I'd have to guess that it's at least a Grass-Type -- maybe a Ground-Type -- so it might be a good idea for you to try and take him on, okay?"

Richie nodded. "Okay."

"Samuel, you try and help Aaron -- neither one of those Types is going to be easy to take down for you -- and that Scyther would definitely give you trouble."

"Hmph." Samuel lowered himself to the ground a little, but he didn't do anything to argue.

"Ando...you stick with me, okay? We're going to try and do something about that Scyther, since you're part Bug already."

Ando clicked something, but Crystal could sense understanding coming from the Pokemon; it was clear that he was starting to understand a little better what was going on around him besides what emotions Crystal was sending his way.

"Okay. Let's go!" Crystal started flying towards Silver and his Bug-Type while the rest of her Pokemon scattered. Richie kept close to her, but he moved away from her when she got close to Silver and came up on the platform in front of the Turtwig instead.

"So, you're going to take me on, huh?" Silver asked, a mocking grin on his face. "Crystal?"

"Don't think that you're going to win just because you and Gold took the League challenge and I didn't," Crystal responded, her tail lashing. She could hear people murmuring in the background, but she made it a point to ignore it as she concentrated on Silver and his Scyther instead. "I'm strong -- and so are my Pokemon."

Silver sneered at that. "Oh, really? I'd like to see you try and take us down! Scyther! Cut her to pieces!"

"You got it! Fury Cutter!" Scyther dashed at Crystal, his wings giving him an extra speed boost--

Ando let out a screech and slammed down his front claws.

_WHAM!_

\--and Scyther was rammed into the cave floor by an unseen force.

"S-smack...D-d-down," Ando said, pride in his voice.

Crystal looked at the Anorith in surprise before grinning. "Good job, Ando! Think you can take care of the Scyther while I take care of Silver?"

"Take care of me?!" Silver's eyes narrowed. "I'd like to see you try!" He brought his arms up in front of him in an "X" shape before slicing forward. "X Scissor!"

There was a bright green flash as the x-shaped attack went straight for Crystal, and the Mew girl flew upward in order to dodge the attack. However, she was still clipped by the attack and was sent flying back a short distance, hissing at the stinging pain that came from the cuts on her legs.

Ando let out a screech and started to move towards Silver, preparing what looked like some kind of energy attack. The claws came down, causing Silver to stumble back as something slammed down onto his head.

"S-smack Down!" Ando repeated, sounding like he could speak a little better.

Crystal took in a breath and aimed for a different target. "Flamethrower!"

The stream of flames hit Scyther before the Bug-Type could dodge; the Pokemon fell to the ground, covered in burns.

Silver gritted his teeth and clenched his fists as the Pokemon was returned to his PokeBall. "If I had my other Pokemon, I would have made sure that you wouldn't be beating me so easily."

Ando made a chittering noise, releasing angry emotions in waves. He started to raise his claws again, but Crystal moved a hand in front of the Pokemon and focused on the feeling of this being _her_ fight, not Ando's.

"I'll take care of Silver," Crystal said seriously. "You stay back and take a breather."

Ando made a humming noise, clearly feeling displeased, but he lowered his claws and pulled back.

Silver snorted. "You think you can take me on by yourself?"

Crystal brought her arms in front of her in a fighting stance, still hovering above the ground. "I've fought Pokemon one-on-one before. This won't be too different."

"Too different? Ha!" Silver gained a sneering smile before that faded quickly into a dark glare. "I'd like to see you try and beat me." He brought his arms up to form an X again. "X-Scissor!"

The attack nearly hit Crystal when it suddenly shattered against what looked like a glass wall.

Silver stepped back. "What?"

"Barrier," Crystal said. She made a motion with an arm, and the wall visibly dissipated before Crystal raised an arm. "Psyshock!"

The explosion of psychic energy that hit the redhead caused him to yell in pain, stumbling back and gripping his head. He looked up and glared at Crystal with an expression that was mixed between shock and pure anger. "What was--"

"An attack I learned from...someone close to me." Crystal wasn't going to outright say her brother's name here -- not in front of everyone from the island of Dewford. "It's not as strong as the attack _he_ can use, but it's good enough for me."

"Psyshock is weaker than Psychic," Diamond spoke up in a thoughtful manner, frowning as he looked away from the fight going on between his Turtwig and Richie. "But it has a stronger counterpart...Psystrike?"

"Psychic would have been too much to take you out," Crystal said, "And I don't want to hurt you anymore than I have to."

"That's--"

"Head Smash!"

_BANG!_

Crystal turned her head to look behind her when she heard Aaron's call and an explosion of noise. Her eyes widened when she saw that there was someone getting to their feet, rocks and sand dust scattered around his feet.

"Thanks, Aaron." The silver-haired man turned and looked over at Diamond and Silver. "You two. You're with Team Magnus, aren't you? What are you doing here? Why are you interested in the mural?"

"You're asking too many questions," Silver sneered in response.

Crystal took opportunity of her opponent's distraction and brought a hand back before slamming it forward into Silver's chest, energy sparking all over the place. "Force Palm!"

Silver was sent flying back into the wall under the mural before he fell to the ground, sparks flying from his limbs. "Grrrgh! Why you-- You're a Psychic-Type! How can you make a Fighting-Type attack so powerful that it feels like you're the exact same Type?!"

Crystal's tail curled around herself. "I'm not _just_ a Psychic-Type, Silver. I'm a specific species of Psychic-Type. Just like you're a specific Steel-Type rather than just that particular typing." Her eyes flashed a bright shade of blue as she focused on her Aura, and she saw Silver's aura's colors. "And it looks like...you're part Scizor, if I'm looking at you right."

Silver's eyes narrowed.

"And you...." Crystal looked over at Diamond, frowning. "I know you're a pure Ground-Type, but the feeling your giving off is unfamiliar...."

"I'm from Sinnoh, so I guess you've never gone there." Diamond reached up to his head, grabbing at the red cap on his head for a moment. "It's cold, but it's a nice region."

A pure-sounding note suddenly came from near Crystal, and she turned her head and looked down.

Richie closed his mouth, looking surprised as Turtwig fell over. "Huh? I meant that to be a Growl...."

Silver snarled something as he started to get to his feet as Diamond returned Turtwig to his PokeBall. The redhead kept stopping and wincing as sparks from Crystal's Force Palm continued to cause his muscles to spasm.

"Good job, Richie," Crystal encouraged, smiling. "I think your Growl turned into a new move. I'll have to check on the PokeDex later."

Silver snorted. "You sound just as weak as you were when I last saw you. What kind of Pokemon were _you_ made out of? A Skitty or something?"

Crystal frowned at that as her tail curled and uncurled, her ears twitching as Steven came up to stand next to her. "What makes to think that I'm a Skitty? I am _not_ absent-minded."

"Skitty are Normal-Types," Steven spoke up suddenly. "Not Psychics, which this Trainer clearly is."

"Oh, yeah? Then I bet she's a--"

There was a bright, sudden flash that abruptly cut Silver off, while at the same time it forced Steven, Crystal, and the others to raise an arm in order to keep the light from hurting their eyes.

The light disappeared quickly, and Crystal lowered her arm before stiffening.

"They're gone?" Richie looked around, confused. "Where did they go?"

"I don't know...." Crystal's eyebrows scrunched together as she looked at the place where the Silver and Diamond had been standing a moment ago. "This is like how it was in Petalburg Woods...."

"Hey!"

Crystal turned when she heard the barking voice, and she locked eyes with a blue-haired man next to where Steven had been.

"Think you could help us get out of these things, kid?" the man asked. "I'm starting to get an itch on my nose and I can't move my hands to get to it."

"I can take care of it!" Aaron called out.

"You can only use Head Smash so many times, remember?" Steven replied. He looked down at Ando and Richie for a moment, frowning thoughtfully. Then he looked back at Crystal. "Do you think you could have a technique that could help?"

Crystal, surprised at the question, started before blinking a couple times. "Uh...maybe? I'm willing to help in any way I can. But what about you?"

Steven gave a smile and grabbed a PokeBall from his belt. "My Pokemon should be able to do something. Let's go, Meta!"

The PokeBall exploded open, releasing a large, steely blue Pokemon with two clawed arms, pointed nose, and red eyes.

"Meta, can you use Metal Claw in order to break the sand and rock around them?" Steven motioned to the people scattered around the cavern, looking at him and Crystal with wide eyes.

Meta hummed. "It should be doable, I imagine. I won't be able to make them as powerful as I usually would, but even half power should be enough."

Steven nodded. "Then go ahead and take care of it. The rest of us will help as much as we can."

"All right, sir." Meta moved towards the closest Dewford local and lifted one of his large arms. "This should not take long at all."

Crystal nodded in agreement, then looked down at Richie and Ando. "Come on, you guys. Let's try to get some of them free ourselves."

"Okay!" Richie replied cheerily.

Ando raised his claws and chittered a little; Crystal could sense that he understood her, even though she hadn't tried to speak to him telepathically. Surprised at this, Crystal smiled at the prehistoric Pokemon before she turned her attention to the nearest person who was trapped -- a young girl with a wide-eyed look on her face.

"You can use Pokemon moves? How?" the girl asked as Crystal came close.

Crystal paused for a moment, her hands just short of the sand and rock mixture. She gave a gentle smile as her tail curved around and touched the girl's nose.

"I'm special that way," Crystal said. Her hands started glowing, and she dug them into the sand and rock before slowly and carefully pulling down, leaving claw marks in the mixture. Then she pulled out her hands and started pulling away at the pieces that she'd shredded, creating an opening that the girl slipped out of.

The girl giggled happily. "Thanks!"

Crystal smiled in response as the little girl ran over to where Richie was trying to claw away at another one of the rocky cocoons and quickly joined him, pulling at some of the loose pieces that were at the top. The Trainer watched the girl for a moment before she got to her feet and started for another person. As she went, she realized something.

_If I had grown like a normal human...I'm really only a little older than she is._

**Spacial Break**

Silver was having a bad day. Not only had he failed to get any higher up in the chain of command, but he hadn't been able to defeat Crystal.

And the others weren't going to let him hear the end of it -- especially when they heard that it was only because of the boss' intervention that he hadn't been completely knocked out and taken prisoner by the strange Poke-human.

Silver couldn't help but wonder if there was any reason that Crystal hadn't grown ears and a tail before she had come to Hoenn. The higher-ups weren't about to give him any hints -- not when they were shipping him off for another location and a second chance to get higher up. Diamond had been shipped out, too, for one of the more isolated areas of the region.

Hopefully, Diamond wouldn't get any higher up than he already was.


	22. Duel on the Sand

When Crystal, the Pokemon, and Steven had managed to free everyone and get them out of Granite Cave, the last thing she had been expecting was that the people would want to hold a party in her honor. That made her uneasy -- not only because these people at least knew she wasn't a normal human, but they also completely accepting of it after she had helped to rescue them.

Of course, Gold and Mr. Brawly had come off the ship as soon as Crystal and the others had come out of the cave, but Gold was lucky enough to be able to keep his own abilities a secret as far as that was concerned.

Crystal ended up hanging back as the party continued through the afternoon and into the evening, with fires being lit up on the beach and music players being set up so that people could dance. Her Pokemon were scattered among the party-goers, enjoying themselves and the attention they were getting. Except for Ando, who was staying near Crystal like he was some kind of bodyguard.

That particular thought made Crystal curious, certainly, but she wasn't sure how to ask the Pokemon why it was that he wanted to stay so protective of her.

"Hi."

Crystal looked up, blinking blankly when she found herself looking into the gray eyes of Steven. "Uh...hi?"

"I don't believe I was able to properly introduce myself back there," Steven said. He held out a hand. "I'm Steven Stone, a traveling Trainer who collects stones from various parts of the world. You are...?"

"Crystal," Crystal replied. She cautiously accepted the handshake, her tail curling around her other arm for a moment as she wracked her brain for the last name that she had given herself. "Crystal Soul."

Steven smiled. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Soul."

"J-just Crystal, please." Crystal ducked her head at the attention she was getting.

Steven chuckled. "All right, then. You mind if I ask you something, Crystal?"

Crystal rubbed the back of her head. "Well, that depends on the question, I guess."

Steven paused at that. Then he asked, "Where did you get that Pokemon?" He looked down at Ando with a curious and awed expression.

"Ando?" Crystal looked down at the Anorith. "He's an Anorith. Someone brought a fossil into the Devon Corporation and let the people there have it to research how to bring Pokemon back. I had helped them out with something, so they gave me the revived Pokemon as thanks. I'd been planning on getting him used to his surroundings before bringing him into a fight, but I guess that events on the island forced me to change that. Sorry, Ando."

Ando waved his claws. "Is okay."

Steven blinked a couple times.

"His speech is a bit choppy, too, but I think he's learning quickly now that he's hearing other people talk," Crystal added. She rubbed the back of her head, looking sheepish. "In fact, I hadn't realized that he was speaking the human language until Gold pointed it out to me a little while ago."

"Incredible," Steven murmured. "So that's what an Anorith looks like in real life." He looked at Crystal with an amazed expression. "You're incredibly lucky to have this Pokemon. As a stone collector, sometimes I run into fossils, as well. I hadn't heard that Devon had perfected fossil Pokemon revival, though."

"It was pretty recent," Crystal admitted. "Ando was the first one they revived, although, I think the better term for that would be 'cloned.' Because they only had a claw of an Anorith and not the entire Pokemon--"

"They just took the DNA and copied it so that it would become a live Anorith," Steven finished, understanding coming across his face. "That makes a lot of sense, actually."

Crystal smiled, feeling a little embarrassed that she had managed to say her thoughts about what had happened to a man who she didn't know at all.

"You're pretty smart for someone your age," Steven commented. "I didn't think that you would know about something like that."

"W-well, I've picked up a lot of things from my friends back at home," Crystal admitted.

"Back home? Where are you from?"

"Kanto. I came here a few days ago with Gold. He suggested I take on the League Challenge here, because I haven't done that before in other places." Crystal fingered the three Balls on her belt. "I decided that I wouldn't use the team I had back at home, so I'm trying to put together a new one to see what kinds of new Types I could experiment with. I mean, I've never had a Rock/Bug-Type like Ando on my team before."

"He certainly is different," Steven agreed. "And you're definitely different from other Trainers I've come across. I don't think I've met ones that are part Pokemon like those two boys before."

Crystal felt a chill run down her spine. "Yeah...I guess people like us are pretty uncommon, huh?"

"According to Gold, yes." Steven frowned. "I talked to him about what's going on with Team Magnus, and he showed me what he could do. I asked him if you were a part of what made Silver and the others, and he said I should talk to you about that."

Crystal's tail curled itself around her waist as her ears twitched while she looked down. Then she looked back up at Steven. "Can I trust you with that kind of secret?"

Steven's eyes softened at the question. "My father and I share a lot of secrets that are let out into the world years later in the business world. I think that one more I can keep from everyone won't be a problem."

"Your father?" Crystal frowned.

"President Stone of the Devon Corporation."

The tenseness Crystal had been feeling in her shoulders relaxed a little. "Oh." Her eyes widened a moment later. "Then, does that mean you know Blaine? The Cinnibar Gym Leader?"

"Blaine?" Steven looked up for a moment. "I've heard about him from my father, but I've never been able to meet him personally. I heard he was an expert on DNA and made a prototype fossil reviver -- he helped Slate a little with his notes, and I think he's planning on putting one together over in Kanto."

Crystal's eyes widened at that. "He is?" She smiled. "It's been a while since I heard from him. I'll have to visit him when I go back after I beat the League." She looked up at Steven, the smile fading. "Blaine was working with Team Rocket when I met him. He was one of the first people that I remember seeing, actually."

Steven didn't say anything, but Crystal could tell he was thinking over what she had just said.

"I was something that the Team Rocket research called a 'side project' to Mewtwo," Crystal admitted. "Blaine had been working on Mewtwo at the time, and he wanted to see if there was anything he could do to make him more stable. So he took human DNA and Mew DNA and...well...." Crystal motioned to herself, as though that was proof enough. "Team Rocket called me 'Mewthree'. Blaine did, too, until he helped me escape. I was found by Red, and he took me to Professor Oak. He helped me learn about the human world for a while, and then I hid out with a couple friends of his in order to train my Pokemon side. To be honest, I didn't want to learn how to use attacks at first, because...Team Rocket didn't really think that being gentle was a good way to teach me things."

"I've heard about what they've done to Trainers and Pokemon in lower ranks," Steven admitted. "There was a Trainer who ended up coming out here a couple years ago. He said his name was Capone, and he was hypnotized into working in the lower ranks."

Crystal's ear twitched. "I remember meeting him -- after he broke Blaine out from where Team Rocket was keeping him for getting me out. I didn't see him before then...or, at least, I don't remember seeing him. All the grunts tend to look the same in that uniform."

"So that was...what, eight years ago?"

"I'll be nine in a couple months," Crystal confirmed.

Steven got a surprised expression. "You look and sound like you could be older."

Crystal became embarrassed. "Well, I did read every book in Professor Oak's lab a few times over...."

Steven smiled and gave a chuckle. "Real-world experience can make you smart, too, you know. There are some things that you can't learn in a book. There are even some stones that people don't know anything about. There's a reason why I'm a stone collector -- I want to find a stone that no one else might have known about before."

"Cool." Crystal smiled. "I hope you do manage to find one."

"I hope so, too." Steven looked over at the partying locals. "Although, Team Magnus getting in the way of normal life like this is probably going to put my stone-hunting travels on hold. Are you still planning on challenging the League, even with them?"

"I'm kind of using it as a cover." Crystal shrugged. "Gold suggested that I do it, and I have been meaning to take on the challenge for a while. And Red was able to do it at the same time that he took down Team Rocket, so I might be able to do the same thing."

"Maybe." Steven gained a thoughtful expression, frowning as he scratched his chin. "Something about that Silver boy has me wondering about him, though.... You've met him before, right?"

Crystal nodded. "Yeah. I think he was Gold's rival in the League back in Jhoto, when Team Rocket was trying to rise up again last year. He liked to put a lot of focus on force with his Pokemon, from what I saw, but his defense was never really all that good because he left himself open when his Pokemon attacked with their strongest attacks. He had a Feraligatr the last time I saw him, and I have no idea where he picked up the Scyther."

"If anything, Team Magnus probably gave it to him. You mentioned that the armor on his arms reminded you of a Scizor, right? They could be trying to get him to train it up so that he could learn more from his Pokemon counterpart."

"Maybe." Crystal frowned. "It does make sense -- I had to learn from a Mew in order to know how to use my own abilities -- at least, at first. And that Poison woman in Petalburg Woods _did_ have a Zubat when she said she was a Crobat...."

"You met Team Magnus earlier?"

"Yeah. Her name's Lauriana...and after I defeated her, she disappeared in almost the exact same way that Silver and Diamond did." Crystal slammed a closed fist into an open palm. "That had to be a Teleport that happened back there, coupled with a Flash to keep us from seeing what was really going on. But what Pokemon it was -- and who sent it to get them out of there...I'm probably going to find out the answers to those questions sooner or later."

"Felt like Mistress."

Steven and Crystal looked down at Ando with expressions of surprise.

"Felt like...?" Crystal frowned. "You mean you can sense other people's auras?"

"Aura?" Ando blinked. "Only Mistress' aura."

Crystal blinked at that, and she pointed to herself. "Me?"

Ando raised his claws and made a chittering noise. "Mistress Mew. I serve."

Steven and Crystal stared at the Anorith in shock at that.

"Serve...Mew?" Crystal paused, then reached up and rubbed one of her ears. "Then...oh, I should probably call and ask Oak if he and Rosa know anything about this...."

"Rosa?"

"She's...a close friend of mine. I guess you could say she's my big sister." Crystal rubbed the back of her head. She didn't want to say anything else than she had to, especially since they were out in the open talking about this. "She might know something about what's going on with the Anorith, but it could be a bit of a long shot."

"Well, it's certainly something to check out." Steven nodded, then frowned. "Still, if Ando said that the whoever-it-was that took off with Silver and Diamond felt like you, then there's a chance that Team Magnus has someone on their team with Mew DNA in them."

"That can't be possible!" Crystal shook her head. "The only people who had access to that were in Team Rocket! And they used it to make me and Mewtwo! There's no way that there would have been anything left after that!"

"You're certain?" Steven frowned. "They could have found more Mew DNA somewhere. There are other stone collectors out there who would be more than willing to hunt for that certain fossil for a price."

Crystal found herself taken aback by the statement. "No...you mean--"

"There are probably other Mew fossils that are scattered across the world that can be found at any time," Steven confirmed. "And Team Magnus' scientists could have found another one."

Crystal gripped her arms and shivered, as though a cold breeze had just passed over her. "Then.... we have to find that person." She frowned. "I can't let another person like me get used by anyone." Her blue eyes locked with Steven's gray ones. "I guess that means I'm going to need more help than just me, my team, and Gold in order to take them down."

"If you need any help, I will offer whatever I can," Steven replied. "To be honest, I'm curious and concerned about Silver. I consider myself an expert in Steel-Type Pokemon, so confronting him would definitely be a challenge I would be willing to take on."

Crystal blinked a couple times at that before smiling at Steven's comment. "Thank you. I appreciate the help."

Steven smiled in response. "It's the least I can do after you rescued us and prevented them from damaging the mural inside Granite Cave."

"Mural?" Crystal blinked at the statement. She frowned. "I thought I saw something on the walls, but I didn't want to take my gaze off Silver or his Scyther."

Silver nodded. "That was smart of you. It really is something that you need to see, though. We should go back down there so that you can get a good look. How about we do it tomorrow?"

"Sure, I guess." Crystal cocked her head curiously, her tail slowly uncurling from her waist. "What's so special about the mural, though?"

"It's a piece of Hoenn's ancient history," Steven explained. "And it's been the subject of debate among researchers for years."

"Really?" Crystal's eyebrows shot up as she considered that. "And if Magnus is interested in it, then I guess that it would be pretty important to know what the mural looks like." She frowned slightly. "Plus, it might give us a clue at what's going on with them, and what they could be up to. I mean, they have Trainers with Type abilities -- one Trainer per Type, except for Electric.”

"Gold told me about that." Steven nodded. "He didn't reveal what Pokemon he was partially, though. You wouldn't happen to have any idea, would you?"

Crystal shook her head. "I don't recognize the aura, but I can tell he's pure Electric, at least. And I haven't seen any sign of what specific Pokemon DNA he has in him, either."

"Well, that's his secret to keep, I suppose. He may tell you about that sometime in the future, but it's going to be up to him."

Crystal nodded in agreement. "Team Magnus is more troubling right now."

"Definitely!"

Crystal jumped when she heard the new voice, and she caught sight of the blue-haired man who had been near Steven in the mural cave earlier in the day.

"I mean, if they continue messing with us like this, then I'll have to close down my Gym so that I can take those bozos down." The blue-haired man rubbed the back of his head, looking annoyed at the thought. Noticing the wide-eyed look he was getting from Crystal, he gained a sheepish smile. "Hi. Name's Brawly. I'm the Gym Leader on this island. I gotta say, thanks for taking care of those two kids back there. I wasn't expecting you to use that Force Palm on the redhead like that. Where did you learn all your moves?"

"Here and there." Crystal shrugged. "I ran into a lot of Pokemon during my travels, and they taught me a few things. I met a few Fighting-Types who taught me some things, too."

"Oh? So that's where the Force Palm came from, huh?" Brawly grinned. "You look like you're quite the fighter. I'd kind of like to see how well you'd do in a hand-to-hand fight without any Pokemon moves."

Crystal blinked in surprise at that. "I do know how to fight like that, but why do you ask?"

Brawly's grin widened. "I was wondering if we could have a little spar, that's all. Think you're up for it?"

Crystal's eyes widened in surprise at the statement. "Wha -- really? You want to spar against me? A-are you sure?"

"Yup! If you don't want to go through with it, that's just fine, but I'd really like if I could test my mettle against you." Brawly took a few steps back and settled into what looked like a boxing stance, one foot in front of the other, fists up and close to his face.

"Ah, w-well...." Crystal scratched at the back of her head, frowning in thought. Then she shrugged. "Well, it has been a while since I did something like that."

Brawly's grin turned eager -- maybe a little feral at the thought of being able to spar against Crystal. "All right! Let's rock!"

Crystal smiled a little in response as Steven and Ando moved back from the two of them, giving Crystal and Brawly enough space to dance around on the sand.

"All right." Brawly lifted his fists a little as Crystal moved into her own fighting stance: feet a little further apart than her shoulders; her left a little forward, her right a little backward; ears forward and alert as Crystal held her right fist up in front of her and her left at her side. "You ready?"

"Yeah." Crystal's fists tightened. "Steven, could you referee?"

"Sure." Steven raised an arm for a moment, then dropped it. "And...go!"

At Steven's signal, Brawly dashed forward, bringing back a fist for a punch. Crystal jumped back, avoiding the punch that would have hit her in the chest and leaning back when Brawly aimed for her head.

Crystal brought a leg up and kicked out, aiming for Brawly's stomach, but the Gym Leader grabbed her foot and spun, throwing the Trainer back into the sand. As soon as she hit the sand, Brawly leapt, clearly planning on pinning Crystal.

Crystal saw him coming and quickly rolled out of the way, swiping a leg at Brawly's feet, sending him sprawling as she scrambled to her feet.

Brawly got up, smirking. "Not bad. Leg Sweep, right?"

"It can be used without putting any energy through it." Crystal raised her fists again as Brawly got to his feet.

"Yeah. I've got a couple Gym Trainers who are working on trying to take Pokemon attacks and turn them into a fighting style. It's been slow going, though."

"I can imagine." Crystal smiled a little at that before a more serious expression came over her face. Then she dashed forward, bringing back a fist and aiming for Brawly's left ear in order to throw him off balance. He brought up an arm in order to keep the punch from going further, but the Gym Leader did frown and let out a grunt before he threw a punch into Crystal's stomach. The resulting hit knocked the wind out of Crystal and sent her stumbling back.

"You've got a pretty good arm," Brawly commented, shaking out his arm as Crystal put a hand to her stomach.

"The same to you," Crystal replied. "Did you train with a Lucario, too?"

"A Lucario?" Brawly's eyebrows shot up in surprise before he gave a grin. "I spar with my Machoke a lot, so I can't say that I've ever had the pleasure. Where did you find a _Lucario?_ "

"He's a friend." Crystal straightened up and took in a breath, trying to concentrate on Brawly rather than on the pain in her stomach. "Rukario's the one who taught me Force Palm, too."

"Really? I'd like to meet this guy." Brawly grinned.

"It's been a while since I've seen him, but the next time that I see him, I'll let him know that you're interested in meeting him." Crystal shifted back into a fighting stance, holding one fist in front of her and one fist behind her. "He's kind of hard to get into contact with because he's a Pokemon that doesn't use technology."

"I'd expect that." Brawly grinned and dashed forward, clearly planning on hitting Crystal in the stomach again. Crystal started to move to her left, but she was slammed in the side by Brawly's right fist. In response, Crystal lashed out with a foot and kicked Brawly in the stomach, causing him to nearly fall over backwards.

"Whoo!" Brawly laughed as he regained his balance. "Are you sure you're not putting anything extra into that?"

"Nope!" Crystal replied.

Brawly dashed forward and tried to punch Crystal in the side again, but her tail curled around his wrist, forcing him to slow down as Crystal grabbed his arm and threw him over her shoulder. The Gym Leader landed on his back with a dull _thud._

"I haven't checked in a while, but I think I'm at about level 50," Crystal added as she released the Gym Leader. "That could have something to do with how strong I am."

Brawly laughed again as he got up from where he was lying. "Level 50, huh? That's a pretty good number. I didn't think you were that strong at first glance."

"I've been training for a while," Crystal admitted. "I'm still not as strong as some of the Pokemon I've made friends with, but I've come a long way from how I was before."

"Sure seems like it," Brawly grinned and looked over at Steven for a moment before looking back at Crystal. "You know, if you're that strong, I'd kind of like to see how you'd fight if you were allowed to go all-out."

Crystal blinked at that. "...Go all out? You mean, fight with everything I have?"

"Yeah." Brawly nodded, still grinning. "I've got a couple Pokemon that could use a good workout. We don't get very many opponents who can really push us to our limits, you know? And surfing can only do so much for our fighting style."

"Surfing?" Crystal blinked a couple times. "Huh. That sounds pretty interesting." She frowned. "So...you want me to spar with your Pokemon?"

"Yeah. Your Pokemon could probably use with some training, too. I mean, you're planning on going up against a pretty massive group, and you're probably not going to be able to carry them all the way, you know?"

Crystal nodded, and then her eyes widened slightly. "Oh, yeah! You said you were the Gym Leader here, right? I'm going through the League challenge, so--"

"Say no more!" Brawly grinned widely. "Tell you what -- meet me at my Gym tomorrow, and I'll have my team challenge yours while you take on my personal Pokemon team. How many badges have you gotten so far?"

"Just Roxanne's," Crystal admitted, looking sheepish.

"That's a good start." Brawly nodded in approval. "For your team, at least. You could probably use some work on your own moves though, if you're starting at such a weak level for the Gyms. I bet you haven't been able to actually train in a good while."

Crystal rubbed the back of her head as she frowned in thought. "I guess so. There _are_ some moves that I'd like to get more familiar with."

Brawly's grin became even wider -- if that was even possible. "Awesome! I'll meet you in front of the Gym tomorrow morning, then? Make sure to bring every Pokemon you've got with you, kay?"

"Sure!" Crystal nodded in response, smiling slightly.

Brawly let out a laugh. "All right! I'll see you then! Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a party to get back into!" The Gym Leader ran off with a whoop.

Crystal watched him go with something that resembled a confused expression while Steven chuckled and shook his head.

"Brawly's always been a bit of a wild guy like that," Steven commented. "In all the time that I've known him, I've noticed that he likes to take some pretty big risks when he can -- the ocean currents around here can create some pretty big waves sometimes for surfing, but there's also an added danger of running into Tentacruel in the waters around here, and they don't take too well to someone swimming in their waters. Brawly and his Pokemon have beaten some sense into them, but I wouldn't be surprised if they became ornery every once in a while and tried to get their revenge on him."

"Wild guy indeed," Crystal agreed, blinking.


	23. The Mural

When Crystal woke up in the Pokemon Center the next morning, she was greeted by the rather amusing sight of Richie and Ando sleeping next to each other, leaning against each other near the door like they were guarding it. Samuel had also taken up a similar position at the window, and was sleeping on the sill with the most peaceful expression that Crystal had ever seen on him.

Crystal smiled quietly, then sat up and slid out of bed quietly, slipping into her shoes before stretching upward to get out any kinks that might have developed in her back during the night. Then she reached out and gave a gentle mental nudge to all her Pokemon, letting them know that she was up and reminding them they had something to do today.

Richie and Ando stirred instantly, the Anorith’s eyes open wide before Richie had rubbed the sleep out of his.

Samuel yawned and shook himself out before giving Crystal a grumpy expression. “So we’re really going to be going to that blue guy’s place, huh?”

“Yeah.” Crystal nodded. “He offered me a chance train my own abilities as well as a time for a Gym challenge. We’re going to need to get his Badge before we can move off the island, anyway.”

“Fine.” Samuel jumped off the windowsill, grunting as he hit the floor of the room. “What’s his Type, anyway?”

“Fighting. Which means that Richie is going to be taking on most of the Pokemon in the Gym.” Crystal looked down at the Ralts, who gained a surprised expression.

“Me?” Richie pointed at himself. “You’re sure?”

Crystal nodded. “I know for a fact that Psychic-Types are strong against Fighting-Types, so you should be able to handle them without too much of a problem. You’re probably going to get stronger quickly, too.”

“Really?”

“What do you think’s gonna happen when you go up against them?” Samuel responded. “I went up when I went against those boulders. Of course you’re gonna go up if you take on a Fighting-Type.”

“Exactly.” Crystal nodded. “And I’m going to be working with a couple of his stronger Fighting-Types either before or after we do the Gym challenge. We’ll have to see what Brawly thinks when we get to his Gym.”

“After breakfast,” Richie added.

Crystal chuckled. “Yes. After breakfast.” She walked over to where she had put her backpack the night before and slung it over one shoulder before heading towards the door and down the hall towards the main lobby of the Pokemon Center – which also happened to double as a cafeteria for anyone in the local area. And this was also where the Pokemon Center managed to make some of its income – the rest coming from donations from the Pokemon League every year as thanks for taking care of Trainers and their Pokemon.

When Crystal arrived in the lobby, she was surprised to see that Brawly was standing there with four trays of food balanced in his arms.

“There you are!” Brawly greeted cheerily as Crystal started towards him. “I was starting to wonder if you were a late sleeper!”

“I’m not.” Crystal frowned at the trays of food, noticing that they had both Pokemon and human food sitting on them. “What’s all this for?”

“Oh! Well, I came here to get my own breakfast, and I was wondering if you and your Pokemon might be willing to eat with me and mine – if that’s all right with you, I mean.”

“I don’t see why not.” Crystal smiled. “Here – let me help you with some of these.” She slipped one of the trays of Pokemon food out of Brawly’s hands, allowing him to adjust his grip on the other three.

“Thanks! Come on, I’ve got my personal team waiting outside – I’ve got the Gym Trainers taking care of my challenge teams this morning.”

“Challenge teams?” Crystal frowned. “How many teams do you have?”

“I have to have at least four for the different levels of challengers that come through. The challenge team I’d use against someone who has, say, one or two Badges, is different from the team I’d use against someone who has seven or eight Badges. It’s a system that was set up so that Trainers could take the Gyms on in any order they wanted to.”

“That makes sense.”

Crystal moved ahead of Brawly and backed into the doors, pushing them open with her back since both of them had their hands full. Her three Pokemon followed after them, Ando appearing more curious of the trays rather than hungry.

Outside on the sand, Crystal noticed that the sun had only cleared the horizon, and people were already out and about cleaning up the area of the mess that had been made the night before. Already, the fire pits that had been set out to hold the bonfires had disappeared, leaving clean sand where they had been sitting.

Brawly took the lead then, stepping across the sand like it wasn’t shifting under his feet as he led the group towards a few picnic tables that were on one side of the Pokemon Center.

Crystal nearly stopped short when she saw the Machamp and two other Pokemon that she didn’t recognize. One was white and red and appeared to be wearing what looked like poufy red pants and a turban, while the other was an extremely heavy-set Pokemon that looked more like a sumo wrestler than anything else.

“Brawly, what kinds of Pokemon are those two?” Crystal looked at the two Pokemon she hadn’t recognized, appearing to be at a loss for words.

“Hmm?” Brawly looked up from where he had been putting down his food trays. “Oh, those two?” He grinned. “That’s Tide, my Medicham, and that’s Hari, my Hariyama. They’re Pokemon that grew up around here.”

“Really?” Crystal couldn’t help but feel awed as she put her own tray down. “Hi. I’m Crystal. It’s nice to meet you.”

Tide bowed in greeting. “It is an honor to be able to meet the Trainer who saved the town.”

Hari nodded in agreement. “I felt great dishonor to know that I was unable to assist in rescuing the townspeople, but I am relieved to know that they were driven off the island.” He looked down at the three Pokemon that made up Crystal’s team. “But I didn’t think that your team was so small!”

“Hey!” Samuel clearly looked offended. “Well, I didn’t think a Fighting-Type could look so fat!”

“Samuel!” Richie sounded aghast at the Sroomish’s behavior. He looked up at Hari worriedly.

The Hariyama frowned down at the two of them, and Crystal almost wondered if she would have to move in order to defend her own Pokemon. But then Hari chuckled, and Crystal found herself relaxing.

“You’ve got some pretty good spirit for a small fry,” Hari remarked. “I look forward to seeing how your Trainer can handle a fight against the two of us.”

Crystal chuckled and rubbed the back of her head. “Well, we should probably have breakfast before we do anything like that. Does that sound good with you?”

“Sounds good to me!” Brawly cut in suddenly, grinning. “You guys better hurry and get something before Machamp gets it all!”

There came a bark of laughter from the named Fighting-Type, but it was a little muffled because he happened to have his mouth full of Pokemon food.

“You’re not getting all of that!” Hari dashed over to the table and grabbed one of the bowls of food, then started playing keep-away with his food in order to keep it out of reach of Machamp while Brawly set bowls or Pokemon food down on the sand so that Richie, Ando, and Samuel could reach them.

Tide sighed and walked over to pick up his own bowl before frowning disapprovingly at Machamp. “Really, Machamp, you have to stop doing this so much.”

The four-armed Pokemon simply laughed in response. “It’s a good workout, though! And you have to admit, this stuff is delicious!”

Crystal chuckled at the Pokemon’s antics. “I don’t think I’ve seen a Machamp that energetic before. The few that I’ve met like to be able to keep busy doing construction work or sparring with other Pokemon.”

“Oh, he does that whenever a bad storm comes through or with my other Pokemon, but otherwise he usually tries to have fun around town.” Brawly grinned as he handed Crystal a tray of breakfast foods – mostly eggs and what looked like a small pile of Berries and fruits of various kinds. “The kids absolutely love him.”

“You got that right!” Machamp responded, grinning widely. He turned away from Hari – who relaxed when he saw the four arms move away from him – and moved over to stand next to Brawly. “The kids like swinging on my arms and spinning around! It’s fun! I could swing you too, if you wanted.”

“I’m fine.” Crystal held up a hand, holding off the Pokemon’s offer. “I think I might be a bit too big to be able to do it like the little kids can. Besides, Brawly asked me to spar with you guys today – and I have a Gym challenge to go through, too.”

“You’re challenging the League?” Tide looked intrigued at that. “I don’t suppose you’re challenging us with that team.”

“No; I’ve only got one Badge.” Crystal frowned as she picked up what looked like a red Rawst Berry and popped it into her mouth. She paused for a moment, blinking in surprise at the sweet taste, before grabbing another, asking, “Didn’t Brawly tell you that he was hoping to have me spar against you guys so that we could work on our techniques?” One of her ears swiveled as she heard the Center’s doors open and close, but no one was coming their way.

“I mentioned they had a new sparring partner,” Brawly explained, smirking. “I didn’t say that it was gonna be you.”

“Why didn’t you?” Hari asked, frowning at his Trainer.

“I didn’t mention it because I figured I’d keep it as a surprise!” Brawly looked up at the Hariyama.

Machamp frowned, scratching his head with one of his hands. “Are you sure it’s a good idea? I mean, I don’t wanna hit a girl.”

Crystal’s tail twitched. “Do you feel the same way in a Pokemon match? Or is it different because I’m part human? Because I can defend myself pretty well against other Fighting-Types, whether I’m using my abilities or not.” She popped another one of the red fruits into her mouth and licked her lips. “Brawly, what are these Berries? I haven’t tasted anything like them before.”

“Oh, those?” Brawly picked up one of the red Rawst Berries and grinned. “They’re called strawberries. They grow them in a region named Kalos. They grow all sorts of fruits there that you wouldn’t believe possible. Like this one.” He picked up a fruit that looked like an orange ball. “They call this one an orange. They make a pretty good juice out of its innards, and they grind up the outer skin and use it in desserts and things.”

“Strawberries and oranges….” Crystal blinked a couple times before she smiled a little. “Kalos sounds like an interesting place to go to. Maybe, once Magnus has been taken care of, I’ll go there and have a look around.”

“I’ve been thinking about taking a vacation there,” Brawly admitted, “but none of my Gym Trainers are good enough for a sub yet. It’ll probably be a couple more years before that happens.”

“Well, you have something to look forward to now, right?” Crystal picked up an orange and frowned at it, feeling the skin of the fruit and wondering how she was going to be able to get at what was inside. Deciding to try something, she dug her right hand’s fingernails into the skin.

“Definitely,” Brawly chuckled. “So, how do you want to do this? Do you want to sit around and talk for a bit before sparring? Or do you want to take the Gym Challenge this early in the morning? Either one works for me, and I already know Steven wants to talk to you about that mural in Granite Cave.”

“The mural?” Crystal looked up distractedly from the orange for a moment before realization crossed her face. “Oh, yeah! He mentioned something about that last night when I said I hadn’t really been paying all that much attention to it when I had been fighting Silver. Does that mean I’m going to be heading down there again in order to get a better look at it?”

“Actually, I went down there this morning and had a few pictures taken.”

Crystal turned her head when she heard the familiar voice, and she caught sight of the silver-haired man she had been talking to the night before. She blinked in surprise before she noticed that he was carrying a small stack of glossy paper.

“Good morning, Steven,” Crystal said as Steven came to a stop next to them.

“Good morning.” Steven smiled before dropping the pile onto the table that wasn’t covered with food and empty bowls from the Pokemon’s meals. “I thought you might be out here enjoying the weather, I came straight here from Mr. Briney’s boat. He’s planning on leaving in a day or two so that Gold can continue to Slateport after having a chance at the Badge.”

“Oh, really?” Brawly, smirked. “I guess I’ve got two challengers in two days, then! Crystal, are you up for sparring with my team when I take care of Gold’s challenge?”

“Don’t you want to be able to watch?” Crystal frowned at the Gym Leader.

“Oh, sure! But a challenge is a challenge, and I’m not about to let this kid pass me by before he goes on to the next one!” Brawly turned to look at Steven. “Would you be willing to watch them while I take on Gold? It’s either gonna happen today or tomorrow.”

Steven frowned. “Well, I was originally planning on staying on the island for a week in order to study the mural and get to know the Aron colony, but Magnus’ movements are troubling. I’m going to need to get moving to other parts of the region so that I can figure out what exactly it is that they’re planning, but it will take me a couple of days in order to prepare. I had hoped to discuss the mural with Crystal and then get straight to preparing to leave tomorrow.”

“Then Gold can fight me today!” Brawly declared. “And Crystal’s team can take me on tomorrow! Sound good?”

“Fine by me,” Crystal replied, smiling.

“All right!” Brawly’s fists shot into the air.

“Before you take off, Brawly, you should have another look at the mural, too,” Steven spoke up suddenly. He took the pile of pictures on the picnic table and spread them out over the wood, creating what looked like a painting of some kind, although it had started to wear a little along the top and part of the sides.

Crystal took a seat at the picnic table, still pulling at the skin of the orange in her hands as she looked over each of the pictures carefully. “So, this is the mural that Silver and that other boy were after?”

Steven nodded. “It’s an ancient mural that was left here centuries ago, depicting a disaster that had befallen Hoenn. As you can obviously tell, it depicts a pair of large Pokemon that are attacking each other, with volcanoes and the ocean itself at each other’s backs.”

Crystal leaned forward to look over the mural more carefully, her attempt to peel the orange pausing for a moment while she looked over the mural.

Something at the back of her mind shuddered as she looked over the large, two-legged red monster with the volcanoes and the large blue sea beast lying in the water. The clear chaos that was going on between them as people ran in all directions as homes were destroyed was enough to make Crystal wonder if this was a reality or just someone had dreamt up in a rather nasty nightmare.

“I believe that these two—“ Steven tapped the two monsters at either end of the mural “—are the Legendary Pokemon known as Groudon and Kyogre. According to legend, they are the Pokemon that created the land that we walk on and the sea which separates most regions from each other. They had a rivalry of sorts and nearly caused the world’s destruction by fighting over which there should be more of – land, or water. The epicenter of that argument was here, in Hoenn, and when they were finally defeated and sealed away by another Legendary we have very little record of – Rayquaza – a good number of survivors hid away a number of guardians so that their descendants would be able to summon them if the need ever arose.”

“Guardians?” Crystal looked at Steven in surprise. “Do you think that’s what Magnus is after? Those guardians?”

“It’s not something that I can say for certain.” Steven shook his head. “And if they were after those guardians, the information on where it is that they’re being kept is being kept secret by a small number of people.”

“And what about Groudon and Kyogre?” Brawly pointed out. He tapped the pictures of the mural, a dark look on his face. “They could be after those massive Legendaries instead, you know. And that definitely isn’t good.”

“No one knows where those two Pokemon were sealed off,” Steven argued. “And I highly doubt that anyone in their right minds would be willing to awaken them and set off the natural disasters all over again.”

“You’d be surprised,” Crystal muttered.

The statement got her curious looks from those around her – both the two humans and the six Pokemon who were listening in.

“What do you mean by that, Crystal?” Steven asked, frowning.

Crystal blinked at the question for a moment, then looked down at Richie. “Team Rocket…they made my brother Mythos because they wanted to have the strongest Pokemon in existence under their control. Obviously, that failed spectacularly, and Mythos isn’t going to be able to reach that full power anytime soon.”

“Mythos?” Brawly blinked in confusion.

“You don’t mean Mewtwo, do you?” Steven asked, frowning.

Crystal nodded. “Yeah. His name is Mythos – because he was made from a Pokemon that was originally thought to be mythical. He came up with it himself.”

Steven’s eyes were alight with curiosity, but he paused for a moment before shaking his head. “We’d better keep to the topic at hand….” He frowned at the pictures for a moment before looking back at Crystal. “Are you suggesting that these people may think that Groudon and Kyogre are the strongest Pokemon in existence, and that they may go to extreme lengths in order to revive either one or both of them?”

“Maybe.” Crystal nodded. “Team Rocket’s attempted revival in Jhoto didn’t have anything to do with the Legendaries there, but if they had managed to band together enough people, there’s a chance that they might have gone after Ho-Oh. According to some of the Trainers I met there, even catching only a _glimpse_ of him is supposed to bring you eternal happiness. Imagine what would happen if Giovanni had seen it.”

The look on the two men’s faces was enough of an answer.

“Exactly. These people could be looking for the exact same power – maybe even try to clone it in order to make it better, like they did with Mew.” Crystal’s tail twitched wildly, as though the mere thought of it was enough to put her in a tizzy. “Team Rocket was greedy for power. These people might be, too. And I can’t let them do to others like Team Rocket did to Mythos and me.”

 _And Gold,_ the Mew girl quietly added.

“This is definitely going to be an issue if what you’re saying is true,” Steven remarked, frowning. “Does Gold know anything about what it is that they’re planning?”

“If I did, I probably would have told you by now.”

Crystal looked up in surprise when she heard the familiar voice, and her blue eyes locked with a pair of familiar golden ones. “Gold!”

Gold gave a smile and a nod to the Mew girl, then looked over at Steven and Brawly as his smile faded. “I was pulled into their ranks later than the others, and I didn’t like them from the moment I set my eyes on them. Ethan agreed with me, so we made it a point to get out of there. This is the first time that I’ve heard anything that sounded remotely like a possible plan of theirs.”

“So we really are in the dark here, then.” Steven frowned. “And it’s likely that those children don’t know the full extent of the plan, either. Meaning we’re going to have to confront all of them if we’re going to be able to put all the pieces together.” He looked between Gold and Crystal. “If it’s all right with the two of you, I’d like to get involved in this. Let me hunt down Silver.”

“You?” Gold gained a surprised expression before he frowned. “Are you sure about that?”

Steven nodded. “I consider myself to be a Steel-Type expert, and I’m willing to bet that Silver isn’t completely aware of all his strengths and weaknesses yet.”

“Well, he is part Scizor, from what I could see of him yesterday,” Crystal pointed out. “He’s got to be aware that he can’t be anywhere near fire because of that, but anything else….”

Steven considered that for a moment, then nodded. “All right. Sounds like I’ll need to expand my team a little.” He fingered the three PokeBalls that were attached to his belt. “I do have others that I’ve been meaning to experiment with, but maybe it’s time that I pick up some new friends….” He frowned for a moment. “I’ll have to ask my father about what I have in mind….”

“While getting new ‘mons and figuring out what these morons are up to is all well and good, we’ve got some things that we need to do today.” Brawly grinned and looked over at Gold. “I heard that you wanted to challenge me, right? I can take you on today and Crystal tomorrow, if that’s all right with you.”

Gold blinked in surprise at the statement. “Really?”

“Yup! Now are you going to accept or not?”

A wide grin came across Gold’s face. “Yes! When do you want it to be at?”

“How about in a couple hours? Say, ten? That way, I can make sure the Gym’s all set for you.”

“Sounds good. It’ll give me some time to run through some last-minute strategies with Ethan and Strike.” Gold eyes seemed to be alight with an energy that clearly said that he was planning something big. “Crystal, do you think might be able to come watch?”

Crystal smiled sheepishly and shrugged. “Sorry, but no. Brawly asked me to spar with his team for a while today in order to keep them on their toes.” She motioned to Machamp, Hari, and Tide – the former two looked somehow amused, while Hari rolled his eyes and snorted.

“I believe it will be us who will be keeping you on your toes,” Hari commented.

“We’ll see,” Crystal responded, grinning.

Brawly laughed. “Even though I can’t understand Pokemon speech, I can still get the gist of what’s being said. I can’t wait to hear about how much you guys push each other.” He started to move away from the picnic table. “Well, I’d better get to the Gym and tell my Trainers to prepare. I want to make sure that I can put Gold and his team through the ringer before they can even get close to me.” With that, the Gym Leader walked off, laughing.

“Brawly’s Gym sounds like it’s going to be fun,” Gold remarked. “This is definitely a challenge that I can look forward to.”

“Don’t give me any hints about it when you get out of there later,” Crystal said. “I want to be able to figure it out on my own.”

Gold nodded, giving Crystal a smirk. “You’ve got it. I’ll see you later. Good luck against those Pokemon.”

Crystal nodded in agreement, then gave Gold a wave as the Trainer turned and walked off.

Steven smiled a little as he watched the teen go. “He’s definitely an interesting Trainer. I’d like to see how well he’d handle against me and my team.” He fingered his PokeBalls again for a moment, then let out a sigh and rose to his feet. “All right, then. You said you were going to spar against Brawly’s Pokemon, right?”

“Right.” Crystal nodded, rising to her own feet. She noticed that she was holding onto something, and realized a moment later that she was still holding onto the orange she had been trying to open earlier. Putting it back on the tray with the rest of the food, she added, “I think going against them one at a time with short breaks in between will be good enough.”

“Sounds good,” Machamp responded, nodding.

“So, which one of us will you decide to spar against first?” Tide inquired.

Crystal frowned at the question for a moment, then looked at each of the Fighting-Types with a thoughtful expression. “I’ll choose….”


	24. Sparring and Meditation

“—Machamp.” Crystal nodded to the four-armed Fighting-Type, who gained a surprised expression.

“Me?” Machamp pointed at himself in surprise. “Are you sure? I didn’t think that you wanted to fight a guy with four arms first.”

“Actually, I’ve sparred against a Machamp before, but it’s been a few years.” Crystal smiled a little as she slipped her backpack off her shoulders, dropping it on top of the picnic table’s bench. “I thought it would be all right if I started off with something familiar before I sparred against the Hoenn Pokemon on Brawly’s team.”

“That sounds reasonable,” Steven commented, nodding. He frowned a little. “But where did you manage to find a Machamp to spar against? Considering the way that you were acting last night, I doubt that very many people know about your abilities.”

Crystal looked at the stone collector with a blank expression, then ducked her head a little as she realized what it was that Steven was talking about. “Yeah, you’re right. There is a dojo for Fighting-Types in Saffron, but I never went in there myself. I actually managed to find a wild Machamp by Trainer terms, so that’s who I ended up sparring against.”

“A _wild_ Machamp?” Steven’s eyes widened. “I didn’t think that was even possible.”

Crystal shrugged. “Well, it is for me.” She looked over at Machamp. “Well? Are you up to sparring against me?”

“Sure!” The four-armed Fighting-Type didn’t even need to consider his decision. “Are you ready?”

“We should probably move a little further away from the Pokemon Center before you start,” Steven interjected. “I doubt that Nurse Joy would like it very much if she had a hole put into the wall by either one of the two of you.”

“Oh.” Machamp ducked his head. “Right.”

Crystal and Machamp moved back from the Pokemon Center a few yards, putting enough distance between them and the Pokemon Center that they probably weren’t going to end up running into it anytime soon. The other Pokemon and Steven followed after them a short distance, but didn’t stay too close to the two combatants for fear of getting in the way.

“I’ll act as referee,” Steven called out. “Are you two ready?”

Crystal shifted into the same stance that she had started in the night before against Brawly. “Ready.”

Machamp got into a similar stance, but his four arms were held in a way that almost looked like a karate master’s. “Ready.”

“Begin!”

Machamp launched himself at Crystal, his arms rising, then coming down when he got close enough. They would have hit her in the shoulders and chest were it not for Crystal’s quick dive and roll out of the way.

“Huh?” On the sidelines, Richie blinked in confusion. “Did Crystal use something?”

“That looked like Detect,” Tide said thoughtfully. “Interesting.”

“Detect?” Richie looked up at Tide as Crystal scrambled to her feet again and mimed pushing the air in front of her. As a result, an unseen Barrier was suddenly pushed into Machamp, smacking the Pokemon in the face and forcing him to stop short for a moment.

“It’s a technique that allows a Pokemon to predict the movements of their opponents, but it’s not something that can be used more than two times in a row,” Tide explained. “If you use the move more than three times in a row and don’t attack – or if your opponent doesn’t attack – than the technique fails, and you’re left open for an attack to hit.”

“Oh.”

Crystal kept one arm outstretched while she let her other hand instinctively go up to her temple. A moment later, little spheres of visible Psychic energy were bombarding Machamp in the head. “Psyshock!”

Machamp stumbled as the attack hit, trying to swat away the spheres only to get stung by them for his troubles. He grunted, then ran at the Barrier Crystal had set up, raised a hand, and slammed it into the unseen wall. “Brick Break!”

There was a sound like shattered glass, and Machamp ran towards Crystal, who was stumbling backwards a bit.

Hari chuckled. “It seems she wasn’t expecting that.”

“Expecting what?” Samuel looked up at the Hariyama.

“Brick Break is a move that allows a Pokemon to break down an opponent’s built-up defenses,” Hari explained. “Moves like Barrier and Reflect can’t stand against it.”

Machamp barreled into Crystal and wrapped two of his arms around her before jumping up and practically doing a somersault in mid-air before slamming back down into the sand, with Crystal underneath him. “Seismic Toss!”

Crystal let out a pained cry in response, causing Ando to start forward. Tide stepped in front of the Anorith before he could get too far, however.

“I believe that your Trainer can handle herself without needing any of you to interfere,” the Medicham said, looking down at Ando.

Ando clicked his claws in a displeased way. “Mistress hurt. Help.”

“You can’t interfere with every battle that your Trainer could become hurt in,” Steven spoke up, looking down at the Pokemon. “This is one of those times. This is supposed to be a one-on-one spar. I wouldn’t be surprised if Crystal ends up getting hurt – she might be at a lower level than Brawly’s Pokemon.”

Crystal let out another yell, but this one sounded more determined and less like she was in pain. The resulting shockwave of Psychic energy threw Machamp off, allowing Crystal to jump to her feet without needing to wrestle the four-armed Fighting-Type.

“What _was_ that?” Machamp rose from where he had been thrown onto his back, frowning at Crystal.

“Telekinesis.” Crystal put her hand up to her temple again, and a visible airwave of Psychic energy slammed into Machamp, causing him to stumble back with a pained yelp. “And that was Psychic!”

Machamp’s eyes widened, and he shook his head in order to shake off the effects of the attack. Then he started running forward again, raising his hands in a prepared strike against Crystal.

“Your Trainer is strong,” Hari noted as Crystal put up another Barrier, only to have it knocked down by another Brick Break. “But she is not quite as strong as Machamp.”

“Brawly trained us all to be up in the mid 60s,” Tide added. “Your Trainer is not quite there.”

Machamp managed to grab hold of Crystal again, grinning viciously. “It’s time I pummeled you into Submission!”

Crystal’s eyes widened at that as Machamp gripped her to his chest and leapt high into the air, despite the horrible footing that the sand gave him. As they were coming back down, Crystal quickly drew on her energy and yelled, “Protect!”

A sphere of blue energy suddenly expanded from within Crystal, forcing Machamp to let go of the Mew girl as they came close to the ground again. Crystal hovered away, safely unharmed, while Machamp collided with the sand without anything to properly cushion his fall.

“Ow ow ow ow ow,” Machamp muttered. The words were accompanied by grunts of pain as he started to rise to his feet again.

Crystal, on the other hand, landed lightly on the ground as her Protect bubble dissipated. She raised a hand to her temple as she asked, “Do you want to stop? Because I can keep going.”

Machamp looked at Crystal, blinking for a moment before rushing at her again, readying his arms for one more strike. “So can I! Cross Chop!”

“Psychic!”

The air shimmered around Machamp’s head, catching the Fighting-Type off-guard as Crystal’s attack hit home before Machamp’s could. The Fighting-Type fell to the sand moments later, groaning.

“Do you yield?” Crystal repeated, still standing with her hand to her temple.

Machamp didn’t answer for a moment. He didn’t get up, either. This caused Steven and Crystal to approach the Fighting-Type cautiously, just in case he was going to jump up and catch them by surprise.

“It looks like he’s fainted,” Steven commented, looking down at Machamp’s face.

Crystal nodded in agreement, seeing the swirls that had taken the place of Machamp’s eyes. She smiled a little and chuckled. “Yup. Looks like I beat him.”

Ando relaxed while Samuel smirked and Richie let out a sigh of relief.

“A good match,” Hari called out. “It seems that you have set up a strategy for battling most Fighting-Types.”

“Well, Fighting-Types prefer to get in close in order to damage their opponents,” Crystal replied, looking over at the Hariyama. She took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled. As she did, it almost looked like she was glowing, but it was hard to tell with the bright sunlight around them. “Rukario is a little different, because he fires most of his attacks at his opponent, but that just makes our spars turn into standoffs in order to see if we can dodge our opponent’s attacks.”

“Rukario….” Steven frowned. “That’s the name of your Lucario friend, right? How did you manage to run into him?”

Crystal hesitated. “That’s a long story.”

“You don’t have to tell all of it. I’m just curious. Lucario are part Steel-Type, and I’ve been wondering for a while if it would be possible for me to be able to see one in person. They aren’t exactly native to Hoenn, and I haven’t met any Trainers who have them on their team.”

Crystal paused to consider that for a moment, hesitating. “Rukario is a traveler. I don’t know where it is that he decides to go home to, but he doesn’t really stay anywhere for too long. I traveled around with him for a while, but we weren’t really anywhere that a normal human would be able to go. I met him back when I was still in Kanto, though, learning how to use my abilities.” Her tail twitched at the memory of those starry nights in the jungle, working with Rukario on her Fighting techniques. “He was a good mentor for me at the time.”

Steven smiled. “He sounds like a good Pokemon.”

“He is! And he’s more than willing to help Pokemon out if he sees that they’re having trouble.” Crystal grinned brightly. “If I ever run into Rukario again, I’ll ask if he knows anyone who might want to travel with a Trainer for a while.”

“Thank you.” Steven gave a slight smile and a nod before looking over at Brawly’s other two Fighting-Types. “So, who of those two do you want to spar against next?”

Crystal frowned at the question, looking at the two Hoenn Pokemon thoughtfully. “Um…Hang on.” She ran back to the picnic tables and grabbed her backpack, zipping open one of the pockets and pulling out her PokeDex. “Since I don’t know you guys’ species, I may as well see if Professor Oak has any data on you guys.”

“I highly doubt that it will assist you in forming a strategy,” Hari commented, “but I do not mind.”

Crystal gave a nod, then pointed the device at Hari.

_“Hariyama, the Arm Thrust Pokemon, and the evolved form of Makuhita. This Pokemon’s thick body may appear fat, but it is actually a hunk of solid muscle. It stomps on the ground to build power, and can tighten all its muscles to make its body become as hard as a rock. It has a habit of challenging others without hesitation to tests of strength, and can stop trains and send 10-ton trucks flying with a single arm thrust. This Pokemon is clearly a Fighting-Type.”_

Crystal blinked in surprise at the device. “Wow. I guess that means you’re pretty strong.” She looked up at Hari in amazement, causing the other Pokemon to chuckle somewhat.

“I am not as strong as I can be, but I can most certainly hold my own,” Hari confirmed.

Crystal then turned and pointed the Dex at Tide.

_“Medicham, the Meditate Pokemon. It is said that through harsh meditation and yoga training, this Pokemon can heighten the energy inside its body and sharpen its sixth sense, which it uses to predict its opponent’s next move. As a result of this training, Medicham is capable of going for an entire month without eating. It can elegantly avoid attacks with dance-like steps, and launch devastating blows in the same motion. Because of its battle style and its sixth sense, this Pokemon is categorized as a Fighting and Psychic-Type.”_

Crystal lowered her PokeDex, her eyebrows shooting up as her ears stiffened up. “A Fighting _and_ Psychic-Type? I haven’t run into a combination like that before.”

“Really?” Tide inclined his head, the turban he was wearing shifting a little so that Crystal could see the top his head underneath – she wondered why he was wearing a turban over what appeared to be a natural cap that grew out of his head. “I suppose that makes my kind unique.”

Crystal nodded. “Yeah. I think it’ll be interesting to spar with you, but I think it might be a good idea to spar with Hari first.” She moved to put her PokeDex away, zipping the backpack shut.

Hari placed his hands together and bowed, causing Crystal to smile as she stepped away from the Pokemon Center.

“We should probably do something about Machamp before we move forward with the next match.” Steven motioned down to the still out-cold Pokemon lying on the sand. “Since Brawly isn’t here, we can’t recall him into his PokeBall.”

“You need not worry, Steven.” Hari turned to face the Steel Trainer. “I am more than capable of awakening my teammate.”

            Hari started towards where Machamp was lying on the ground, taking large steps and practically swinging his entire body around in order to move forward. Crystal assumed the gait was because Hari’s body was mostly made of muscle, and that made it hard for him to move around very much. All the same, Hari managed to reach Machamp rather easily, and he bent over the other Pokemon’s face…before slapping Machamp’s cheeks with both hands.

            The result was an instantaneous yelp of pain from Machamp as he sat up as stiff as a board, Hari only barely managing to get out of the way before he could have been whacked in the head.

            “Did you _have_ to use Smelling Salts on me?” Machamp demanded, rubbing one of his cheeks and glaring at Hari.

            “It was the only way any of us would have gotten you to awaken,” Hari explained. “I do not know how it is that Brawly uses those Revive crystals, and Crystal has not received enough Gym Badges in order to obtain them from a PokeMart or Pokemon Center.”

            Machamp gained a scowling expression and started muttering something under his breath, but he didn’t make any other protests.

            Crystal giggled at the two Pokemon’s interaction. There was definitely something about how Brawly’s Pokemon worked together that made them seem to be something more than a team. She liked that.

            “So, I lost.” Machamp let out a sigh. “Shoot. I’d really hoped that I would be able to brag about beating a Legendary.”

            Crystal’s ears twitched when she heard Machamp say this, and she blushed. “H-hey! I’m not a Legendary!”

            “What makes you say that?” Steven asked, frowning. “What was it that Machamp said, exactly?”

            Crystal explained to Steven what it was that Machamp had said, adding, “I don’t really see myself as a Legendary, though. I’m not strong like—“ She caught herself, pausing for a moment. “And I don’t really have very many connections to Legendaries, either, like some Pokemon do.”

            “But you are a Legendary – at least, in part.” Steven looked up at Crystal’s ears, which twitched a little. “And, considering that you know Mythos – considering your origins – and that _he_ might know other Legendaries, I’d say that you already have more than enough connections.”

            Crystal frowned at that, her ears and tail twitching. “Well, when you put it _that_ way….”

            “I believe that you two will be able to discuss what makes a Pokemon ‘Legendary’ at another time,” Hari spoke up. “Tide and I still await our promised spars.”

            Crystal jolted a little at the reminder and nodded. “Right. I guess you’re ready then, Hari?”

            The Hariyama nodded as Machamp got to his feet and moved over to sit at one of the picnic tables. “I am. Are you? Or do you require a moment more of rest after your spar with Machamp?”

            Crystal shook her head. “I’m fine. I only needed to use Recover once, so I can spar you right now.”

            “I’m guessing that both of you are ready, then?” Steven asked. When he received nods from both Hari and Crystal, the Trainer said, “All right. Begin!”

Crystal was the one who struck first, unlike her previous spar against Machamp. She had a hand to her temple instinctively mere seconds after Steven gave the starting signal, and unleashed a Psyshock.

Hari took the attack with a grunt, but he didn’t look physically affected by it. The Hariyama then moved his large hands to his knees and started moving, pounding his feet into the ground like a sumo wrestler. The movement didn’t cause the ground to shake, but Crystal imagined that it might have if they were standing on dirt or rock rather than sand. Then Hari raised his hands, and propelled himself forward suddenly using the tensed muscles in his eggs.

Crystal had expected Hari to do something in order to hit her, but the fact that he had managed to launch himself at her was completely unexpected. As a result, Crystal had only started to dodge a few moments after Hari had launched himself. However, it was still enough for Hari to manage to get in a hit on Crystal, sending her skidding back a short distance.

The Mew girl hissed and grabbed her right shoulder, wincing. “Ow.”

“Do not let yourself get distracted by the pain that you feel,” Hari warned, coming to a stop and turning. “If you do, that could be disastrous for you and lead your opponent to victory.”

Crystal let out a hiss as she focused her energy in on herself, leading to a Recover that caused her arm to snap back into joint. “Right. It’s just…I hadn’t expected my arm to go out of joint. It’s fine, now.” She looked back at Steven and Tide, who were standing in front of Ando. “I just hadn’t been expecting it.”

“I suspect that it might have something to do with your human side’s strengths,” Steven suggested. “It’s likely that, as with most humans, your natural body’s defenses might not be good compared to a normal Pokemon’s.”

“That doesn’t explain how I managed to survive Machamp’s attack,” Crystal pointed out.

“My attack is higher than his,” Hari spoke up. “For now. Brawly has been working with him in order to improve that and his speed, but I have more weight behind my attacks.”

Crystal nodded in agreement, massaging her shoulder. “Yeah. I felt that. It looked like you didn’t feel my attack at all, though.”

“I did, actually. You have taken my energy down by about half.”

Crystal’s eyes widened. “Half? That’s not as much as it did for Machamp, I don’t think!”

“The one downside to having so much attack is that my defenses are left wide open,” Hari admitted.

Crystal paused to consider that, then gave a nod. “That makes sense, especially with how you rammed into me like that. Did Brawly teach you how to build up your speed like you did?”

Hari nodded. “We came up with the idea after a day of surfing. Brawly uses it to train us in balance and evasion.”

“Surfing?” Crystal’s ears perked up. “I haven’t done that before.”

“Am I to assume that this fight isn’t going to keep going at this point?” Steven asked, a quirk of a smile showing up on his face.

Crystal ducked her head, blushing a little at being called out for talking rather than fighting.

Hari, on the other hand, took the statement into consideration. “Considering that Crystal’s body is weak to my arm thrusts using the fighting style that Brawly and I have developed—“

“I’m willing to finish the spar,” Crystal interrupted, looking at Hari. “It’s just that I hadn’t been expecting my shoulder to get hurt like that.”

“Are you sure you want to keep going?” Steven asked, frowning. “It might be a better idea if we stopped for now and had Nurse Joy take a look at your shoulder.”

Crystal hesitated at that, looking at her right shoulder while she bit her lower lip in thought. She knew that it was a bad idea to push herself too far – if she did, then she could end up majorly injuring herself beyond her shoulder. But, there was also a chance that she could push herself mentally and just simply avoid Hari’s attacks while firing Psyshock or Psychic in order to take him down.

Still, that hit on her shoulder probably wasn’t a good thing….

Crystal sighed and nodded. “You’re right. It might not be a good idea if we kept going.”

Ando visibly relaxed while Steven and Hari nodded in agreement.

“Let’s go in and talk to Nurse Joy, just to make sure that you aren’t damaged anymore than what we first thought,” Steven suggested.

It turned out that Crystal’s shoulder was in working order, despite the fact that she had been slammed into by Hari. Nurse Joy suggested waiting a couple hours before doing anything that would have been too strenuous – including sparring or training.

This resulted in Tide suggesting that he and Crystal do some meditating after lunch.

“Have you done any meditation before?” Tide asked as he and Crystal sat down on the sand.

“A little,” Crystal admitted. “I haven’t done any recently, but Rukario said that I probably should every once in a while.”

Tide considered that. “I suppose you learned how to use your sixth sense this way.”

“Do you mean aura?” Crystal looked at Tide curiously.

The Medicham paused at that. “Yes and no. Not all Pokemon are capable of accessing aura by just meditating and focusing on your hidden eye. I haven’t heard of a Normal-Type being able to fully access the ability to manipulate aura, for example.”

“Why is that?”

Tide frowned at Crystal. “I would have thought that your mentors would have taught you the differences between Psychic aura and the auras of other Types.”

Crystal looked away, feeling a little embarrassed. “We didn’t really have much time to do anything like that. Rukario and…my older brother and sister focused most of their time trying to coax me out of my defensive shell.” She paused. “The…the Rockets tended to beat me a lot.”

“That explains how you feel as though your mental defense is much higher than most Pokemon that I’ve encountered,” Tide noted. “Your mental attack power is also high.”

Crystal looked at Tide in surprise. “How do you know?”

“My sixth sense, which is like aura, but not quite, can see these things in you. I can see your advantages and disadvantages in combat, but I do not exploit them – that would be dishonorable. Besides, I rarely get the opportunity to sit and calm my senses in the middle of battle.” Tide gave a smile, and Crystal returned it.

“That’s…wow.” Crystal chuckled a little. “That’s amazing.”

“Indeed. I find that I can use my sixth sense to great advantage when Trainers come to Dewford for training. Brawly has helped many people train a certain aspect of their Pokemon so that they can improve on their strengths and cover their weaknesses. You can do the same, if you wish. Or you can improve your control over aura. I assume that you are able to form an Aura Sphere?”

Crystal nodded. “Yeah. It’s been a while since I used it, but I know I can form one if I really need it.”

“Good. Perhaps it would be a good idea if you were to focus on controlling your ability over aura in general, then. I know that Aura Sphere shows good control over aura in some Pokemon such as Lucario, but other Pokemon may ignore the other abilities that using aura has to offer.”

“How do you know all of this?” Crystal shifted her position on the sand, gripping her ankles while her tail curled into something that looked like a question mark.

“A young Trainer named Cynthia came to this island with a Lucario once,” Tide replied. “I learned about the techniques for meditation from him, and I unlocked my sixth sense then.”

Crystal’s eyes widened at that. “Someone else knows a Lucario…?”

“Now, how about we move on to actually meditating rather than talking about the advantages to doing so?” Tide prodded.

Crystal blinked a couple times, then shook her head in order to bring herself out of her surprise. “Y-yeah. Right.”

Tide moved from his relaxed sitting position to one that had a straight back and his head held high. Crystal mimicked the Pokemon, leaning a little on her hands as they rested on her knees. From there, the two of them settled into a slow, breathing rhythm.

Crystal closed her eyes and focused inward, trying to remember what Rukario had taught her years ago when she had started working on controlling her aura. The first thing that he had taught her was Aura Sight, so she hoped that would come somewhat easily.

Crystal wasn’t aware of how long it took for her to coax her Aura to activate, but it still didn’t really take too long for everything around her to come into focus – even with her eyes closed. With each pulse of her heart, a pulse of Aura stretched out over the sand, showing Crystal how each of the small dunes was shaped. It also noticed that there were people nearby by only sensing the pulse of their auras.

It didn’t really surprise her to know that Tide’s, Machamp’s, and Hari’s aura were stronger than her team’s, but she did find it a little strange that Steven seemed to have a strong aura, as well – and she’d only seen one of his Pokemon so far during her stay on Dewford.

“I sense that your aura is active,” Tide commented, “as well as strong. It feels strange to my sixth sense.”

“It does?” Crystal’s tail flicked a bit, but she didn’t open her eyes.

“Yes. It’s almost as though I’m sitting next to a being even more powerful than I am, and that makes me uneasy.”

That made Crystal open her eyes, and she looked at Tide with a frown. “It makes you uneasy? Why?”

Tide hesitated. “Perhaps it is because I have not exposed myself to a Legendary’s aura before. Pokemon of that caliber are few and far between.”

Crystal nodded. “Yeah.” She hesitated as well for a moment. “Professor Oak said there used to be a lot of Mew – an entire civilization, in fact. But then they ended up running into a disaster that left them with only a few survivors. They were very secretive Pokemon to begin with, though, so I guess that even back then, other Pokemon wouldn’t have run into Mew all that often.”

Tide considered that, then nodded. “Legendary Pokemon are myths in and of themselves, and if they decide to make themselves known to the rest of the world, their appearances are few and far between. There are two Pokemon here in Hoenn that are very much like that.”

Crystal’s ears perked up at that. They knew about two Legendary Pokemon that lived in Hoenn?

Tide took in a deep breath and slowly released it, appearing almost serene. “Do you believe that you would be well enough for a spar with me? No powered attacks – just a simple exercise of movement.”

Crystal’s ears twitched at the suggestion. “Brawly did that with me last night.”

“Yes, but my fighting style is far different from his. After all, I am part Psychic, unlike my teammates.”

Crystal nodded in agreement, remembering what it was that the PokeDex had said about Tide earlier that day. She uncrossed her legs and rose to her feet. “I am kind of curious to see how you fight.”

Tide rose to his feet, as well. “I had thought you might be, which is why I made the suggestion. And you would be able to handle a non-powered spar much better than a powered one, if what happened with Hari is still affecting you.”

Crystal nodded in agreement, then backed away from Tide a little and settled into her battle stance while Tide simply relaxed, looking almost like he was about to fall over.

A couple seconds later, the two of them moved at the exact same time.

Crystal lunged forward in a half-slide, planning on taking out Tide’s legs so that she could knock him over in a non-powered Leg Sweep. At the same time, Tide jumped up and spun above the Trainer’s head, almost as though he had been aiming for Crystal’s head.

Crystal could hear the wind whistling as Tide spun with one foot out, glad that her head wasn’t in the way of that. She could have been knocked out right away and taken back to Nurse Joy without a chance to retaliate.

Tide stopped spinning and put his feet together, coming down in order to hit Crystal with the tips of his feet. Crystal saw this coming without needing to even thoink about using Detect and rolled out of the way before Tide hit the sand, allowing Crystal to get back up to her feet.

Tide raised a leg and held his arms in a stance that almost looked like it was supposed to be part of a dance step – or even a stance when a Pokemon was in the middle of attacking its opponent. “You are quite good at keeping yourself out of harm’s way, but you should know that sometimes even dodging won’t be able to keep an opponent from hitting you. For example, you could run into fellow Psychic-Types that are going to consider you an opponent, and those attacks can still do you harm.”

Tide lowered his leg in a blur and rushed at Crystal, but she managed to get out of the way of the attack before she could get hit in the stomach. While Tide was still moving forward, Crystal retaliated by slamming a hand down on Tide’s back, sending him crashing into the sand.

“I know that those moves can hurt,” Crystal responded. “One of my mentors liked to spar with me sometimes, and I’ve run into Pokemon who have wanted to test me by seeing how strong my mind was. It hasn’t happened very often, though.”

Tide seemed to consider this as he rose to his feet. He jumped back a few feet so that Crystal wouldn’t be able to hit him again. “Perhaps you ought to consider learning moves that are strong against your Type? They can come to be an advantage for some battles you might have in the future. Trainers and Pokemon could both be caught off guard by you using a Ghost or Dark-Type attack, and they would provide a good defense against Ghost-Types.”

Tide’s suggestion caused Crystal to shudder. “I’d rather not. Those two Types are ones that I’d rather avoid right now.”

Tide relaxed; it was clear that Crystal wasn’t going to keep on sparring at the moment. “Why is that?”

“Ghost-Type moves feel wrong – they’re _meant_ to be used by Pokemon that could be considered ‘dead’ by Trainers of all kinds.” Crystal looked down at her hands for a moment. “I know that Mew can learn it, but I just don’t think that it would be right to learn moves of that kind yet.”

“And the Dark-Type ones?”

The shudder that came from Crystal at that question was even more violent. “No. Just…no. Those attacks feel much more like… _malevolence,_ according to my bro -- Mythos. And I don’t really like the sound of that….”

Crystal could hear the howls of the Houndoom at the back of her mind, and she almost saw Viridian Forest’s trees for a moment. She shuddered again and shook her head in order to push the memory away.

“You have had an encounter with Dark-Types before, haven’t you?”

Crystal jolted and looked at Tide with wide eyes. “How did you—“

“My sixth sense told me that shudder was more than just you thinking about feeling that malevolence that Mythos reported.” Tide stepped forward and put a hand on Crystal’s shoulder, causing the Mew girl to stiffen a little. “It must have been a terrifying experience.”

Crystal gave a shaky nod, but said nothing.

Tide sighed and let his hand drop, then looked across the sand to where Brawly’s Gym was standing. “Many Trainers come here with Flying-Types to use against our Trainer in their Gym matches. Some even come back with stronger teams – and stronger Flying-Types – in order to train and prepare for the Elite Four. I have faced many Swellow and Pelipper as a result.”

Crystal winced.

“But I don’t fear them.”

Tide’s statement caused Crystal to look at the Medicham in surprise.

“Most Pokemon are good Pokemon – including the ones that are strong against you,” Tide continued. “There is a minority of Pokemon that do have corrupted natures, however, and it seems that the ones you ran into are in that category. From what I’ve heard, only Pokemon that were involved in Team Rocket or other groups have those kinds of natures. So, if you were to meet another Dark-Type in the future, there is a chance that they will be far friendlier than they seem to be at first glance.”

Crystal stared at Tide with a shocked expression before shaking her head. “I know that Flying-Types are friendly Pokémon, and I know that Ghost-Types mean well despite their trickster natures, but Dark-Types just aren’t Pokémon that I really want to get to know right now.” Her eyebrows scrunched together while her ears tilted back, and she absently rubbed at her arms, where the bite marks had been years ago. “I know that they can be okay Pokémon, because one of my friends has one that he’s made friends with, but I just…I just don’t feel ready yet.” She looked at Tide. “Does that make sense?”

Tide cocked his head to the side for a moment before nodding. “You are nervous about meeting a Type of Pokémon that caused you pain; I understand that. But you will need to overcome that fear sooner or later, if you are to be able to keep moving forward.”

He took a couple steps back. “I don’t think I need to spar with you any longer. I can tell that you are strong in what you need to be. You team, on the other hand, could do with some proper training if you are going to be able to defeat my Trainer’s Gym team. Take them into Granite Cave for a couple of hours; it’s the only way that you’re going to be able to find any place to train up your team.”

Crystal’s subdued expression shifted at Tide’s suggestion, and she gave a small smile and a nod. “All right. Sounds good.” She turned and started walking back towards the Pokémon Center, then paused and looked back at the Medicham. “Thanks.”

Tide simply bowed in response.

 


	25. Granite Training

It didn’t take Crystal too long to gather her three Pokémon and head back to Granite Cave. Samuel was looking forward to clobbering the Rock-Types that lived there – if only because he could keep using Absorb and stay healthy while they fainted – but Ando and Richie were a bit more subdued in their eagerness to train.

If anything, Crystal would probably say that they were more determined to become better, rather than relaxed like Samuel was.

“Samuel, you should probably take this a little more seriously than you are,” Crystal suggested as they stepped inside the cave. “I know you’re pretty much in your element here, but you’re going to have to let Richie take some of these Pokémon by himself. Brawly uses Fighting-Type Pokémon in his Gym, and Richie is going to do the best against them.”

Samuel scowled and hunkered down a little, muttering something under his breath that caused Richie to turn sharply in the Shroomish’s direction.

“You can still train, just not as much as Richie needs to,” Crystal added.

Samuel didn’t respond for a moment, but then he let out a reluctant, “All right. Fine.”

Crystal nodded. “All right. Now all we need to do is find some Pokémon who would be willing to give us some help. I don’t think that should be _too_ hard….”

“There’s a colony of Abra hiding in here somewhere. They might be willing to help Richie with some of his techniques if you manage to find them.”

Crystal turned to look back at the cave entrance when she heard the familiar voice, and her eyes widened a little out of surprise before a smile crossed her face. “Gold! How did your match against Brawly go?”

“Well, I managed to defeat him.” Gold stepped inside, smirking. “I actually managed to find an Abra who was willing to travel with me and worked with him for a while so that he could evolve.”

Crystal’s ears perked up. “You have a Kadabra on your team? Really?”

“Yup.” Gold fingered one of the PokeBalls on his belt; Crystal noticed that there were four of them there now, rather than just Ethan’s, Strike’s, and the unknown Pokémon that Gold hadn’t let out yet. “Kal wanted to take some time to rest and say goodbye to his family before we head out tomorrow, so he teleported into the cave a couple hours ago. I came by because I have to find him again so that we can eat dinner.”

“How about we look for him together?” Richie suggested. “I haven’t heard of a Kadabra or an Abra before.”

Crystal smiled down at the Ralts. “Do you remember Kaz? The Alakazam that came with me from Kanto?”

Richie nodded.

“His younger forms were Abra and Kadabra. They’re interesting Psychic-Types.”

“Interesting is right,” Ethan commented. He grinned. “It took Gold something like an hour in order to find and catch Kal last night, and that’s because he was Teleporting all over the place!” The Pikachu burst out laughing.

Gold sent the Pokémon on his shoulder a sour look while Crystal gained a smile and giggled a little. “He probably thought that I was a threat of some kind. That part of Granite Cave doesn’t get very many people coming through, remember?”

“Yeah, yeah. Still, it was kinda funny!”

Gold sighed irritably as Ethan kept right on laughing. He gave Crystal an annoyed look, and she gave a shrug in response.

“Well, we should probably try and find him,” Crystal looked around the cave. “Do you remember where you found him?”

Gold nodded. “Yeah. They were pretty close to where the mural is. Come on.” He started forward into the cave, Crystal and her team following on his heels.

“So, you saw the mural that’s down there?” Crystal asked, looking at the Jhoto Trainer with a curious expression.

Gold nodded. “Yeah. I didn’t think that something like that could be kept down there. It looked kind of like some of the murals that were around the Ruins of Alph in Jhoto – the ones that talked about the Legendary Pokémon that lived in the region.”

“Really?” Crystal’s ears twitched out of interest.

“Yeah.” Gold nodded. “I guess that some regions have some things in common. I just wasn’t expecting this one to show a lot of destruction.”

Crystal’s ears flattened a little. “Well, Legendary Pokémon can be rather destructive when they want to be….” She thought back to when Mythos had been out of control, and when Catzin’s words were all out of order. “I think it just depends on whether or not they’re in control of themselves.”

“In control of themselves?” Gold frowned. “What do you mean?”

A small boulder with a pair of arms suddenly bounced into their path; Richie moved in front of Samuel and took down the Geodude with a Confusion and the other move that involved sound – Disarming Voice, the PokeDex had called it.

Richie had learned another move that had put Lucky Chant in the backseat, but the Ralts didn’t want to lean too heavily on Magical Leaf when he wasn’t going to be able to use it too much in the Gym challenge tomorrow.

“When Mythos woke up at first, he acted like all he wanted was destruction,” Crystal explained. “He ended up taking down a lot of Celedon City before we were able to stop him and make him sane. If he had kept on going…I don’t really want to think about it.” Crystal’s tail shuddered violently.

Gold frowned. “Oh, yeah. So that was him? I heard that it was all Rockets.”

Crystal shook her head. “We had to cover up his creation somehow from most of the region. The only people who know about Mythos are me, my mentors, some of the Gym Leaders, and the Elite Four. The Trainers who fight him as an extra challenge are a pretty small number, too, and they aren’t allowed to try and catch him. Professor Oak and I wrote up an entry on him that was automatically put into each PokeDex, so they can’t have the excuse of trying to get data on him.”

There came a loud screech from somewhere ahead of them, but that was closely followed by a _thump!_ As Richie brought down a Zubat before it could get too close.

“Huh.” Gold blinked a couple times, then frowned. “So does that mean he’s still wild?”

Crystal hesitated for a moment. “I think so? I wasn’t there when Red and Blue talked to Lance about Mythos, and he hasn’t left his cave for any reason as far as I know. I could probably ask him about it the next time I see him.”

Gold gained a snarky grin. “After we’ve taken down Team Magnus.”

Crystal nodded in agreement, smiling a little.

**Time Break**

It didn’t take Crystal and Gold too long in order to make their way down to where the Abra were living. The wild Pokémon didn’t make it a point to bother them, and when they did, the encounters were few and far between. Crystal suspected that the Pokémon were reluctant to reveal themselves because of what had happened before yesterday.

“Kal!” Gold raised an arm as they entered the cavern that he had pointed to. “There you are!”

A number of Abra that had been sitting around the Kadabra Teleported away abruptly, but one or two of them did remain and turn at the sound of Gold’s voice.

 _“Gold,”_ Kal greeted, giving a curt nod. _“I thought I told you I was going to come out when I was ready.”_

“It’s nearly dinner; I thought you would have wanted to eat with us,” Gold replied. Noticing that the Pokémon was eyeing his friend, he motioned to Crystal. “This is Crystal. She’s from Kanto.”

“Hi.” Crystal gave a nod. “These are my team members, Richie, Samuel, and Ando. I have befriended other Pokémon, but they’re staying elsewhere at the moment.”

Kal observed the girl curiously, frowning as his large tail twitched a little.

_“You’re the girl who chased out the invaders?”_

Crystal nodded. “Yeah.”

Kal bowed, as did the other Abra that were in the cavern. _“It is an honor to meet someone who is so legendary. We have had travelers from faraway lands speak of you.”_

Crystal’s ears stiffened. “Travelers?”

_“Indeed. A Trainer with a Blastoise passed through here a few days back. He seemed to think that you would enjoy being among Pokémon of your own Type.”_

Gold frowned. “A Trainer with a Blastoise…?”

Crystal frowned and cocked her head. “Blue was here?”

 _“That is what he called himself.”_ Kal smiled a little. _“He said that, if you were ever to come through here, that one of us should tell you that he and his friends have found some very interesting allies, and that they have heard about how you started your League challenge.”_

Crystal relaxed a little and rubbed the back of her head, looking away. “A-all right. Do you know where he went?”

_“I believe he had made it to Mossdeep and was simply taking a tour around the waterways of the region. It seems that he likes it here.”_

“Well, I wouldn’t exactly be surprised….”

Gold coughed. “The sun’s probably starting to set outside. We should be heading back.”

The Abras that were clinging close to Kal seemed disappointed at that, but they Teleported away all the same. Kal gave a nod to his Trainer as soon as they were gone, and disappeared back into his PokeBall.

“Can you teleport us back?” Richie asked, looking up at Crystal.

Crystal shook her head. “I can’t when we’re in caves. I don’t want to end up Teleporting into a wall rather than onto the beach. It would be a bad idea to try.”

Richie paused to consider that, then nodded in agreement while Ando’s claws clicked and Samuel gave a reluctant nod.

“Let’s get going,” Samuel grumbled.

Crystal nodded in agreement, then turned and started out of the cavern, Gold and her Pokémon team following close behind her.

“You’ve got a pretty diverse team now,” Gold noted, looking down at the three Pokémon around Crystal’s feet.

“Yeah,” Ethan agreed. “I haven’t seen Pokémon like ‘em before.”

“You saw Richie in Oldale,” Crystal argued, frowning at the Pikachu. “And Samuel in Petalburg Woods, after I drove off Lauraina. Ando is probably the only one you haven’t been properly introduced to yet.” She nodded to the Anorith, who raised his claws in greeting. “He’s a prehistoric Pokémon that was cloned from the DNA of a fossil. I got him from the Devon Corporation before we came here.”

“They’re cloning Pokémon?” Gold asked in surprise.

Crystal nodded. “As far as I know, they’re only planning on doing it for Pokémon that are supposed to be considered extinct, since there’s no other way to find them. I think he mentioned that it’s possible to find fossils somewhere in the region, but I don’t remember if he said where they could be found.”

“I should keep my eyes open, then.” Gold nodded in almost an absent-minded way. “It might be pretty cool to have a Pokémon like that on my team.”

“You’ll have to talk to President Stone, or maybe Steven, about that.” Crystal smiled somewhat sheepishly. “I don’t think that I know enough about prehistoric Pokémon that I would be of much help.”

“Yeah. Sounds like a good idea. Maybe I should do it today or tomorrow.” Gold grinned a little, as though imagining himself with a strong Pokémon from centuries ago.

“You’ll have to catch Steven before he leaves,” Crystal warned. “He said he was planning to leave tomorrow to look for Silver.”

“Look for Silver?” Gold frowned. “Does he know what he’s doing? He could—“

“He didn’t seem to worried about him.” Crystal shrugged. “I think he’ll be all right, but I can’t exactly say for sure.”

Gold frowned at that. “It might not be a good idea to let him go and hunt down Silver like that. You’re pretty powerful, and I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve that I haven’t had to use yet. Silver might have been holding back in the caves down here.”

“I don’t think he’s the kind of person who does.” Crystal frowned. “I mean, when he fought you back in Jhoto, it never really looked like he did. He probably was trying to hit me with everything he had back there, since he attacked with an X-Scissor right off the bat.”

“She’s got a point,” Ethan piped up.

Gold’s frown deepened. “…Yeah, you’re right about that. I guess that Silver isn’t really the one to keep secret weapons.”

It didn’t take too long for the two of them to get out of Granite Cave, but by the time that they did, it was clear that Gold’s guess at the time was right: the sun had already started to disappear in the west, and the Pokémon Center’s windows were ablaze with light in contrast to the darkening sky.

Crystal took in a breath of the cool, salty night air, and let it slowly escape her. “This feels nice.”

Gold nodded absently. “Yeah. Kind of like the beach near Oilivine.”

“It’s definitely better than Vermillion and Fuchsia.” Crystal turned to look at Gold. “The beaches there are either turned into harbors or a really craggy area that’s only good for the Krabby. This…I think this feels like what a beach should be.” She turned and looked out over the sea again, watching the waves catch the fading sunlight.

Gold seemed like he wanted to say something, but he didn’t for a while. The sun had become nothing more than a sliver in the distance when he finally spoke up.

“I’m gonna head back to the Pokémon Center.” Gold looked over at Crystal. “Good luck with your Gym challenge tomorrow.”

Crystal blinked in surprise, then smiled. “Thanks.”

Gold smirked back, then started to head towards the Pokémon Center, yawning and waving back at Crystal.

“Get some sleep!” Ethan yelled, turning on Gold’s shoulder. “You’re gonna need it!”

“I’ll keep that in mind!” Crystal called back. She chuckled as she watched the two of them went off, then looked down at her team. “We should probably be heading back to bed, like Ethan said.”

Richie yawned himself and nodded in agreement, getting a chuckle from his Trainer. Crystal picked up the Ralts and cradled him there as she started towards the Pokémon Center after Gold, Samuel and Ando not that far behind.


	26. Surf's Up!

When Crystal woke up the next morning, her team was already up and waiting at the door. Samuel looked especially impatient, but Crystal was starting to think that was normal for the Shroomish.

“How long have you guys been up?” Crystal slipped out from under the covers and reached for her backpack. Nurse Joy had shown her a small clothes shop that was at the back of the Pokémon Center, suggesting that Crystal have more outfits than just her white T-shirt and pink jacket. As a result, she had bought a set of pajamas before going to bed the night before.

“An hour,” Richie replied.

“How can you sleep when you know we’re going to be taking on that Brawly guy today?” Samuel demanded.

Crystal shrugged, then started for the bathroom that was connected to her bedroom. “I guess it’s mostly because I’ve been in…other situations that made me a lot more nervous.”

Ando’s claws clicked. “More nervous?”

“My brother’s rampage before he became sane, for instance.” Crystal closed the door behind her and quickly changed back into her usual outfit.

When Crystal came back out, her Pokémon were still standing by the door, but they didn’t look _quite_ as impatient as they had been. Crystal found herself smirking at them as she stuffed the pajamas into one of her backpack’s pockets before slinging it over her shoulder.

“Do we have everything that we need for this, do you think?” Crystal asked.

“Could we get some more Potions?” Richie asked. “I can’t use any moves that can heal myself.”

“I think we’ve got enough.” Crystal looked back at her backpack, remembering that she had eighteen Potions that she had bought while in Rustburo. “If we have to, we can always come back to the Pokémon Center to heal up in the middle of the Gym challenge. We don’t have to take on all of his Trainers in one go.”

Richie gave a slight nod in response. “Okay.”

Crystal led her team out of her borrowed room and down to the cafeteria. There were a number of people eating down there – including Gold and his team – but Crystal didn’t want to make it a point to look over at anyone while she got food for herself and her team. As she was turning around in order to find a place to sit, Gold looked up from his breakfast and waved her over.

“Good morning,” Crystal greeted as she came over and took an open seat at Gold’s table. She took the Pokémon food and put them down so that her team would be able to eat. “How are you doing?”

“Pretty good.” Gold took a bite of the omelet on his plate and swallowed, then paused when he saw the pile of fruits on her plate. “What are all of those?”

“Brawly said they were strawberries and oranges.” Crystal gave Gold one of the red Rawst-like berries on her tray. “I haven’t been able to try the orange yet, but the strawberries are pretty cool.” With that, Crystal started digging at the skin of the orange, slowly peeling back the skin in small pieces.

“Where did these things come from?” Gold frowned at the strawberry, then put it in his mouth. A surprised look crossed his face. “I didn’t think a strawberry tasted like _this._ ”

Crystal nodded, smiling in agreement as she continued to tear off the orange’s skin. “He said they come from a region called Kalos.”

“Huh.”

Gold and Crystal quickly finished off their breakfasts at a decent pace as Crystal’s team pretty much inhaled their food.

Crystal licked her lips as she finished the orange. “Oranges are pretty good. I don’t think there’s a Berry that tastes like this.”

Gold nodded in agreement as he finished nibbling on a piece that Crystal had given him. “Yeah. I don’t know _what_ to call this taste. It’s good, though.”

“Are you done?” Samuel asked impatiently. “We’ve got a Gym to beat, remember?”

“I know, Samuel.” Crystal looked down at the Shroomish and frowned a little. “We’ll get there. I don’t think that Brawly is having any other challengers today.”

Samuel huffed, frowning, but he didn’t say anything else.

“But I am done, so we can get going and challenge him now.” Crystal rose to her feet, causing Samuel to grin and Ando to click his claws in what sounded like approval. “Like we saw yesterday, Brawly likes to use Fighting-Types. Ando, you’re not going to be able to do anything to help us in this one.”

Ando paused. “Why?”

“Brawly’s team and the Trainers he has in his Gym would be able to take you down pretty quickly. Rock-Types aren’t very good against Fight-Types.” Crystal smiled sadly. “You can watch, but you can’t get involved in any of the matches.”

“All right,” Ando conceded. “I’ll watch.”

Crystal nodded, then looked over at Gold. “Well, I’d better get going. Brawly’s probably getting impatient waiting for me.” She chuckled.

Gold smirked and nodded in agreement. “Yeah. You’d think that he would go with the flow.”

Crystal smiled and nodded in agreement. “I’ll tell you how it goes.” With that, she started out the door, followed by her little entourage of Pokémon.

Outside, the sun was clearly up and shining, with a clear sky that had a few small clouds. There were people walking about, enjoying the weather and just having an all-around good time. Crystal considered joining them, but decided against it – she had a Gym challenge to take on right now, and her Pokémon weren’t going to let her relax just yet.

Richie took in a deep breath, then forced himself to relax. “I don’t know if I’m ready for this….”

Crystal looked down at the Pokémon and smiled a little. “You’re going to do just fine. And you’re going to have Samuel as back-up, so you’re going to be fine, okay?”

Richie hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “Okay.”

The group soon arrived at the entrance of Brawly’s Gym, which looked like a wave had collided with a dojo and just stuck there. Crystal wasn’t exactly sure what to make of it.

Samuel snorted. “You’d think this place was a Water-Type Gym or something.”

“I guess he decided to decorate it in order to show his interests,” Crystal commented, shrugging. “We’d better head inside and see what it is that we’re going up against.”

As soon as Crystal stepped inside, she found herself almost completely blind.

“Hey, Crystal! Fire up a Flash, would you?” Samuel demanded.

Crystal nodded in agreement. “Yeah. We’re definitely going to need to be able to see…” She focused her power in on herself in order to activate the ability, but suddenly found that it was being suppressed. “What…?”

“Hey there, Mew Girl!”

Crystal turned her head when she heard the voice, and she blinked with a blank expression when she saw that there was a figure wearing an outfit that was completely themed in brown. There was a pair of sunglasses sitting on top of his head, as well.

“Uh…yeah?” Crystal’s tail twitched; she wasn’t exactly sure that she liked the nickname very much.

“The entire Gym has Pokémon around that can suppress certain moves when they’re used outside of battle,” the man explained. “This entire place is designed so that every time you beat a Trainer, it gets a little lighter in here. If you manage to avoid all the Trainers – which I doubt’s gonna be able to happen – it gets _really_ bright in here _really_ fast.” He tapped the sunglasses that were sitting on top of his head. “I don’t plan on going blind in here, unlike most Pokémon Trainers that decide to challenge this place.”

Crystal nodded. “Gotcha. So…are you a Trainer?”

The man laughed. “Heavens, no! I’m just a guide for the Gym! I let Trainers know what goes on in the Gym and what Pokémon might be good against the Gym’s strengths. And it looks like you already know what you already know the strengths and weaknesses of the Pokémon, since you have a Ralts, so I don’t think I need to lecture you about anything.” He motioned into the darkness. “You’ll be able to see at least a little bit of light around you, but you’re going to have to reach for the walls most of the way.”

Crystal nodded again. “Thanks for the tip.” She looked down at her Pokémon. “Well, we should probably get going.”

Richie nodded in agreement. “Right!”

The group started moving forward into the darkness, the entrance closing shut behind them and blocking the sunlight that had been streaming in a moment ago. Crystal found herself looking around in vain for a few seconds before her eyes became somewhat adjusted to the darkness.

“Guys, it might be a good idea if you go into your PokeBall,” Crystal murmured. “I don’t want us to end up splitting up and losing each other in this maze.”

There was a grunt from an unseen Samuel, and then three streams of bright red light rose up from the floor and into the Balls on Crystal’s belt. She gave them a nod before she turned and started moving forward again before running into a wall.

“Ah-ha!”

A small spotlight suddenly appeared over Crystal, and she whirled around out of surprise in order to see who exactly it was that had called out.

“Brawly said we were going to get another challenger today!” A girl wearing a tank-top and shorts stepped into the spotlight, smirking confidently. She paused a moment later when she saw who it was. “What…? Wait, _you’re_ taking the Gym challenge?”

Crystal’s ears tilted back a little. “Yes? Is…that a problem?”

The other girl blinked for a moment before frowning and shaking her head rapidly. “I don’t think so. Just…just don’t try to get in the middle of the fight when your Pokémon are getting hammered. I don’t know how you learned how to—“

“I learned how to do things from a Trainer friend of mine.” Crystal raised a hand, her tail twitching in almost a lashing motion. “I’m not going to get myself involved in a proper match. Team Magnus, on the other hand, is an entirely different matter.” She unclipped Richie’s PokeBall from her belt and held it up meaningfully. “You are here to challenge me to see if I can keep going, right?”

The girl saw the PokeBall in Crystal’s hand and grinned. “Yup! And I’m going to make sure that you end up getting pushed to your limits!” She unclipped a PokeBall from the back of her shorts and tossed it forward. “Let’s go, Meditite!”

The girl’s PokeBall exploded, revealing a humanoid, blue and white Pokémon with wide, black eyes. Crystal released Richie a moment later, and the other Pokémon’s expression became even more determined.

“What kind of Pokémon is a Meditite…?” Crystal quickly pulled out her PokeDex.

_“Meditite, the Meditate Pokémon, and the pre-evolved form of Medicham. It is known to undertake rigorous mental training deep in mountains, and never misses its daily yoga training. It survives on one berry a day to temper its spirit by enduring hunger, and meditates for hours to heighten its inner energy. As a result, it can levitate through its heightened spiritual power. This Pokémon is a Fighting and Psychic-Type.”_

Crystal lowered the PokeDex, nodding. “All right, so Psychic moves aren’t going to do all that much against it. Richie, let’s start this off with a Disarming Voice and see what happens, all right?”

Richie nodded, then took in a deep breath.

“Meditate,” the opponent Trainer murmured.

Richie sang out a pure note suddenly, catching the Meditite by surprise as the sound wave hit it. The Pokémon shook out its surprise a moment later, however, and sat down on the Gym floor. He took in a deep breath and slowly let it out before opening his eyes again and glaring up at Richie.

Richie took a step back, holding up an arm as though to hold off a possible attack.

“Don’t worry,” Crystal murmured encouragingly. “Just use Disarming Voice again, and you’ll probably be all right.”

Richie paused at that, then nodded in agreement, gathered his confidence, and sang out another pure note.

The sitting Meditite flinched upon hearing the note, and wavered in its sitting position for a moment before its entire body stiffened. It sat like that for a moment before it fell back and didn’t get back up.

The Gym Trainer stared at her Pokémon in surprise for a moment, then looked up when the spotlight flickered to a weaker light as other lights started coming on at random all over the ceiling. “Well, looks like you beat me.”

Crystal nodded in agreement as Richie let out a sigh of relief. The Kanto Trainer looked around for a minute, frowning a little when she noticed that there were walls forming a passageway around them, but she could see the ceiling of the Gym pretty well. “So, how is this Gym set up?”

The Gym Trainer grinned as Crystal returned her gaze to her former opponent. “It’s a maze. It’s a lot better than the old Gym design that we had – especially since we can all hide and sneak up on challengers a lot better than giving them a straight path for them to walk along.”

Crystal gave an uneasy smile when she heard the girl’s statement. “I guess there can be some fun in doing that.”

“Of course there’s fun in doing it!” The Gym Trainer gave a laugh. “Course, there are some of us who like to hide in plain sight, but don’t count on them being easy.” She took a step to the side, allowing Crystal to be able to continue along the path in the maze. “Brawly’s waiting for you on the other end, if you can get that far!”

Crystal’s smile became much more confident as she looked down at Richie. “I think we definitely will.”

The rest of the Gym turned out to be pretty much the same, except that Samuel occasionally got himself involved in the fights if Richie needed a quick moment to rest. Which he did need, when Crystal found herself facing the third Gym Trainer’s three Pokémon: two Meditites and a Machop.

Crystal let out a sigh of relief as the second Meditite fell to Samuel’s Mega Drain, and the lights in the Gym brightened again. Now, she could definitely see what was coming ahead in the maze, but there were still a lot of shadows hanging around the edges of the corners and up in the ceiling. “So, how many Trainers do we have left?”

“I was the last one,” the girl in front of Crystal responded as she returned her fainted Pokémon. “Brawly’s just up ahead. He probably knows that you’re in here by now, since the lights have been coming on so fast.”

Crystal nodded. “Yeah, I’d think so. Thanks for a good battle.”

The girl blinked in surprise at the statement, then gave a smile in response. “Hey, I’m just doing my job.”

“And you’re doing a good job of it.” Crystal grinned, then looked down at Richie and Samuel. “Are you two ready for this?”

Samuel bounced up and down a couple times. “What do you think? Of course I’m ready!”

Richie looked hesitant for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah. I think I’m ready, too.”

“If either of you two feel exhausted, we can go back to the Pokémon Center,” Crystal added.

Samuel snorted. “Do I look like I need that?”

Crystal gave Samuel a nod and looked at Richie with a curious expression.

The Ralts hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. “N-no. I think I’ll be all right.”

“All right. But if you need to get your energy up, I do have Potions in my backpack.”

Richie nodded, then turned and looked down the path in the maze that was ahead of them. He started forward, Crystal and Samuel following after him. As they went, Ando popped out of his PokeBall and settled for moving along to Crystal’s right, trying to look as menacing as possible.

The group turned a corner in the passage, entering a large room that had a rack of small dumbbells against one wall, and a large wall of curtains at the back of the room. And standing in the center of the room with a Machop and a smaller version of Hariyama was Brawly, and it was clear that he was eager for something.

“Hey, there you are!” Brawly’s grin became even wider as soon as he caught sight of Crystal and her team. “I was starting to wonder if you had gotten held up somewhere.”

“Well, your Gym is a maze, so took me a while in order to get this far,” Crystal responded. “How did you come up with the idea for all of this, by the way?”

“I used to train in Granite Cave a lot, and I figured that other people should get to know what it’s like to have to train in the dark,” Brawly replied easily. “Now I train my Pokémon by surfing with them, though, but it feels good to remember the good old days sometimes.” He looked down at the Pokémon at both his and Crystal’s feet. “So, you’re good to go? No last-minute runs to the Pokémon Center or anything?”

Crystal shook her head. “I checked with my Pokémon before we came in here. Richie and Samuel are both good to go.”

Samuel puffed himself up as he glared at the mini Hariyama, while Richie looked back and forth between the two Fighting-Types that Brawly had with him.

“All right!” Brawly gave a thumbs up. “Machop, Makuhita, we’ve got ourselves a challenger! You ready?”

Machop slammed his fists together while Makuhita – the mini Hariyama – put his hands on his knees and rocked back and forth like Hari had done the day before. Brawly laughed when he saw that.

“All right! Machop, you’re going to be up first!” Brawly turned his head. “Hey, referee! You ready?”

“I am, sir!” A man wearing an orange shirt that looked identical to Brawly’s suddenly appeared out of the darkness, carrying a couple flags under one arm. “The both of you are ready?”

Crystal nodded as Brawly declared, “Yeah, man!”

“All right, then!” The referee gave a nod. “Battle begin!”

“Machop, you’re going first.” Brawly grinned as his Pokémon moved forward.

“Richie, are you ready to take him on?” Crystal looked down at the Ralts.

Richie thought for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah. I can take him.” He moved in front of Crystal and centered himself in front of Machop.

Machop paused, looking hesitant.

“Keep your cool,” Brawly told the Pokémon. “It doesn’t matter that he’s got a type advantage.”

Machop nodded when he heard that, and took in a deep breath and closed his eyes. It almost looked like he was meditating on his feet.

“Confusion,” Crystal said, nodding to the Machop. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, the Fighting-Type was sent reeling as the soundwave-like attack hit him hard. However, Machop was quick to regain his balance, but he did look a little worse for the wear.

Brawly winced. “That doesn’t look too good for me….” He reached into a back pocket of his shorts and pulled out a small, orange spray bottle before he started spraying its contents over Machop with reckless abandon. As the spray fell over the Fighting-Type, he started to look a little better.

Brawly grinned. “Super Potion. Never have a battle without it.”

Crystal frowned at that, and Richie scowled a little under his green hood before unleashing another Confusion that sent Machop stumbling.

“Okay, we should leave them with a parting gift before that Ralts takes us down!” Brawly declared. “Go ahead and give him everything you’ve got!”

Machop righted himself and smirked before he made a dash at Richie, raising a hand.

“Richie, you’ve got this!” Crystal called out.

“Right!” Richie took in a breath, then let out a pure-sounding note that caused the Fighting-Type in front of him to come skidding to a halt.

Machop stumbled, trying to hold his hand up in the air, but then his hand dropped and he swayed on his feet for a moment before collapsing.

“Machop is unable to battle!” the referee announced. “Ralts is the winner!”

Richie let out a sigh of relief and relaxed while Crystal smiled in triumph.

“Not bad,” Brawly approved, nodding as he pulled out a PokeBall. The knocked out Machop disappeared inside as the Gym Leader added, “You’re definitely playing to your strengths with using Pokémon like Ralts.”

“I’m trying to move a little beyond my comfort zone,” Crystal admitted, motioning to Samuel and Ando. “I’m not sure what Pokémon I’m going to end up picking up next, though.”

“Might I interest you in a Fighting-Type?” Brawly suggested, grinning as he motioned Makuhita forward. “They’re quite dependable Pokémon.”

Crystal frowned, considering that. “I know they _can_ be good Pokémon…I’ll have to think about it.”

Brawly shrugged. “Well, I had to try.” He laughed. “You ready for Round 2?”

Crystal looked down at Richie, who gave a nod in response before looking at Makuhita. The Trainer looked at Brawly and nodded. “Yeah. We’re ready.”

“Awesome!” Brawly gave the referee a thumbs-up, and the figure waved his flags, initiating the second half of the match. “Maku, let’s go! Time to show off your Arm Thrusts!”

“You’ve got it!” The Makuhita started forward, bringing his arms back.

“Confusion!” Crystal countered as Richie fired off the attack.

Maku hit the oncoming attack straight on, flinching a little as the move hit home. The Pokémon kept going, however, and slammed his hands into Richie, sending the Ralts flying back into the wall behind Crystal.

“Richie!” Crystal exclaimed with concern. She turned quickly in order to face the little Pokémon and froze.

Maku stepped back, looking hesitant and a little thrown off. “Whoa. Did I hit him too hard…?”

“Ralts are weak in the defense department, so I’m not exactly surprised,” Brawly responded. “I didn’t think he would be sent flying, though….”

A soft glow suddenly caught the Gym Leader’s attention, and he paused and looked over at where Riche had hit the wall in order to see what it was that was going on. His eyes widened as his eyebrows shot up when he saw what was happening.

Brawly had to ask. “Crystal, is your Pokémon—“

“Yeah.” The concerned look in Crystal’s face slowly faded as a smile came across her face. “He is.”

Richie rose up from the Gym floor as his body continued to glow as his arms and legs grew longer while his head grew a little larger. When the light faded, it was pretty clear to everyone else what it was that had happened.

Richie looked around in confusion. “Guys? Why are you all looking at me like that?”

Crystal giggled. “Richie, you might want to look down.”

Richie did so, and his now-visible eyes widened before he started frantically trying to smooth down the skirt that had suddenly grown out. “What the – why is this thing so short?! What just happened?!”

Brawly burst out laughing at Richie’s antics. “Oh, wow!”

“Richie, you’ve evolved,” Crystal explained, holding down her giggles. “I’ll have to look up the information on your new form later, but can you hold off on being distracted until we’ve taken care of Brawly’s second Pokémon?”

Richie looked up, pausing in trying to push down the skirt. It promptly bounced back up, causing him to look down and blush again. “…Yeah, I guess.” He looked back up at the others and moved away from the wall, taking a moment to find his balance on his new feet. He stopped when he got in front of Crystal again and frowned up at Maku.

A moment later, the Fighting-Type was sent flying by a Psychic blast that caused Richie to stumble back a couple steps out of surprise.

“Whoa!” Richie’s eyes were wide. “Th-that – that had a lot more power behind it!”

Crystal giggled at Richie’s exclamation while Brawly looked amused. “You’ve got a lot more power, now that you’ve evolved. Don’t worry, though – I’ll help you work through it. I promise.”

Maku let out a groan from where he had been flung to – a raised platform with a chair; probably where Brawly sat when he was waiting for a challenger to arrive. The Makuhita started to rise to his feet, but then he fully collapsed.

“Makuhita is unable to battle!” the referee called. “Brawly is out of useable Pokémon, which means the challenger wins!”

Crystal smiled brightly while Richie gave a smile of triumph and raised his hands in the air and started to dance around. A moment later, the former Ralts remembered himself and stopped, frantically pushing down on his stubborn skirt again while blushing madly.

Brawly laughed at the Pokémon as he made his way over to Crystal, grinning widely. “Pretty good match, even if you only used one of your Pokémon and had a big advantage over mine. I’m going to have to ask you to come by again sometime to see how good you’re going to get with your team as you keep going in the League!”

Crystal smiled and rubbed the back of her head, blushing a little at the Gym Leader’s praise. “Thanks. I might take you up on that, so that I can spar with your team again.”

Brawly laughed. “Yeah! I wasn’t able to see you spar with them yesterday, and I’d really appreciate it if I could see you guys go at it!” He reached into a pocket of his shorts and pulled out a small pin, holding it out to Crystal. “Here ya go. My Knuckle Badge.”

Crystal accepted the badge and turned it over in her hands, noticing that the badge looked like a clenched fist.

“And here’s something else – for a good match.”

Crystal looked up, and her eyes widened when she found herself being handed a disk.

“This is a TM with the move Bulk Up,” Brawly explained, smirking. “I’ve got more than enough lying around, and most of my Pokémon know it already. It’s a move that raises both the attack and defense of a Pokémon.”

Crystal carefully accepted the disk, looking at it with wide eyes. “Wow. This is the second TM that I’ve been given.”

“Let me guess. Roxanne gave you one, too?” Upon seeing the expression on Crystal’s face, Brawly laughed. “It’s kind of become a tradition among us Gym Leaders. I don’t know who started it, but I kind of like it. It’s like an extra gift that helps the Trainers keep going.”

Crystal nodded, carefully holding the disk. “It definitely would help Trainers. Technical Machines are supposed to be pretty expensive, from what I’ve heard.”

Brawly snorted. “You’re telling me. That’s why I’ve kind of stocked up on them over the years. It helps that I’m a Gym Leader, but there are just some times when the currents are against you, y’know?” He smirked. “Anyway, I don’t think you’re gonna have too many problems with training. Since you swamped me with just one Pokémon, you’ll probably be able to do just as good in the other Gyms.”

“Any recommendations as to where to go next?” Crystal’s ears swiveled as her tail curled into a question mark.

“Well, since you’ve already taken care of Roxanne and me, the next closest one would probably be….” Brawly frowned in thought. “…Either Norman in Petalburg or crazy old Watson in Mauville. Either way, they’re both pretty strong.”

“Norman wanted me to prove my strength before I went back and challenged him, so I’ll be going to Mauville next, I guess.” Crystal smiled. “Thanks for letting me know where the next Gym is.”

“No problem.” Brawly blinked for a moment, then snapped his fingers and grinned. “Say! Do you happen to have a PokeNav on you?”

Crystal blinked at the question. “Um…yes?”

“How about we exchange numbers so that we can keep in touch? That way, if anything comes up and you think I might be able to help, you can just ring me up! How ‘bout it?”

Crystal was surprised by the suggestion, and stood there with a blank expression for a second.

Richie tugged on the sleeve of his Trainer’s jacket, getting her attention. “It might be a good idea. He is a pretty good Trainer.”

Crystal looked at her newly-evolved Pokémon for a moment, then nodded in agreement. “Sure. How do you do that, anyway?”

“Here, I’ll show you.” Brawly stuck a hand in a pocket and pulled out a familiar yellow device. “It’d be a good idea that you pull out yours, too, so that we can do this without you needing to take any mental notes or anything.”

“Right.” Crystal pulled out her own PokeNav.

“All right. So, first you’re going to need to….”


	27. Ocean Transport

When Crystal left the Gym, she was surprised to find that Gold was standing outside waiting for her, Ethan sitting on his usual perch.

“You beat him?” Gold asked.

Crystal nodded. “Yeah. And Richie evolved.” She motioned to the Pokémon next to her, who was still desperately trying to push down his skirt. “I don’t know what his new form’s called, though – I haven’t had a chance to check my PokeDex yet.”

Ethan burst out laughing. “Oh, wow! Don’t you look girly!”

Richie’s blush only became even redder. “Sh-shut up!”

Crystal reached down and slipped her arm under Richie, lifting the still-small Pokémon up onto her shoulder, using her arm in order to make sure that he stayed there. “Don’t worry about it so much, okay? You don’t have to listen to an electric mouse telling you whether or not you look girly. Either way, though, the both of you look absolutely adorable.”

Richie rubbed the back of his head, looking embarrassed, while Ethan looked started at that.

“I am _not_ adorable!” Ethan barked.

Gold rolled his eyes, smirking. “That’s what you think.”

Ethan was probably going to say something in response to that, but the attention of both Trainers and Pokémon were caught but a bright flash of silver overhead. All of them looked up, and they caught sight of a silver and red bird Pokémon circle above them before flying off to the northwest.

“Is that a Skarmory?” Gold asked, watching the Pokémon go.

Crystal nodded, then frowned, focusing on her Aura Sight. An explosion of aura above the Flying/Steel-Type told her exactly who the rider was. “Steven’s riding on it! I guess it’s one of his Pokémon.” She looked back at Gold. “He has three Pokémon. One of them was a Pokémon that I didn’t recognize, but I could tell that it was part Psychic and Steel.”

“Really?” Gold looked up at Steven, who was quickly becoming a mere spec on the horizon. “Sounds like he’s a Steel-Type Trainer. Huh.” He looked back at Crystal. “So, you’re good to go?”

Crystal nodded. “Yeah. Where are we going next?”

“Slateport. I’ve got another package that I have to drop off.” Gold motioned for Crystal to follow him, and he started jogging across the sand. Crystal followed after him, being careful not to jostle Richie on his perch too much – or run over Samuel and Ando.

“Brawly said the next Gym was in Mauville,” Crystal said as they started towards the dock Briney had his ship at. “The map on my PokeNav says that it’s north of Slateport. It looks like the town is the center of a crossroads.”

“Really? That could be useful on getting info on what Magnus is doing all over the region. We’ll probably have to wait and see when we get there, though.”

Gold and Crystal soon reached Briney’s boat, and caught sight of the old sailor standing out on the open back of his ship. He quickly caught sight of the two Trainers.

“There you two are!” Briney grinned as Crystal and Gold reached his ship. “I was starting to wonder if we were going to be able to leave today! It’s almost noon!”

“Really?” Crystal looked up at the sky, noticing that the sun was high above their heads. “Huh. I’d kind of thought that I might end up taking longer in Brawly’s Gym than that.”

“Being in the dark can really skew your sense of time,” Briney responded knowingly. “Come on. Help me cast off, will ya? And put your lil’ Kirlia down here so he can get used to that skirt.”

Crystal blinked for a moment, then realized who it was that Briney was referring to. “Oh! Uh, sure.” She carefully climbed into the boat and set Richie down on top of a bench near the back of the cabin. “You said Richie’s evolved form is called Kirlia?”

“Yup.” Briney brought a thin blanket out from inside his cabin and lay it across Richie’s legs, getting a look of relief from the Pokémon as his embarrassed blush faded a little. “There are a couple rich kids who pop by my place sometimes when they want to go out over the sea for a while. The girl’s got a Kirlia by her almost all the time. That one’s a girl, though. Seeing a Pokémon that you’ve given a boy name to with a skirt looks a little off.”

“You’re telling me,” Richie responded.

“Kirlia….” Crystal frowned, then pulled out her PokeDex and pointed it at her Hoenn starter.

_“Kirlia, the Emotion Pokémon, and the evolved form of Ralts. It is said that a Kirlia can grow beautiful when it is exposed to the positive emotions of its Trainer, and it spins and dances when happy. It is also said that this positive power amplifies its psychokinetic power and can cause the air around it to distort and create mirages, possibly allowing it to see into the future. This Pokémon is a Psychic and Fairy Type.”_

Crystal blinked a couple times, looking down at the screen of her PokeDex for a moment before closing it and putting it away. “Well, I wasn’t expecting that for an evolution of Ralts. I wonder if your final form is going to wear a dress.”

Richie’s eyes widened as his entire face turned red, causing Samuel and Ethan to burst out laughing. Then he looked over at the water as Briney started up the boat’s motor. “W-well, at least it won’t be this skirt….”

“I guess,” Crystal commented, nodding in agreement.

Gold shook his head. “Wow. I don’t think I’ve seen a Pokémon that evolves into a dress regardless of their gender.”

Crystal nodded in agreement. “Yeah. This is new for me, too. I wonder what Ando and Samuel are going to end up evolving into.”

Samuel’s grin from his laugh faded as his eyes widened. Meanwhile, Ethan started to snicker.

“I already know what I could evolve into, and I’m never going to turn into it,” Ethan said in an almost taunting tone. “Gold and I said we’re never going to get a Thunderstone. Ever.”

Briney’s boat started moving forward, the motor running at a low purr, and almost a loud roar. Crystal moved and sat down next to Richie as the boat turned to the east and started away from the dock on Dewford Island.

“I hope that news of me doesn’t spread too far,” Crystal commented worriedly as her ears and tail disappeared from an illusion again. “Hiding from Magnus and who knows who else could get to be pretty hard if people learn about what I am.”

Richie frowned worriedly. “Well, they seemed like nice people….”

“Yeah, but sometimes nice people can let things slip by accident. If news about what Magnus did gets out, they’re going to have to think up something in order to keep my Pokémon side a secret from the rest of the world.”

“I don’t think you’re going to have to worry too much about that,” Briney responded. “Dewford’s a place that doesn’t really get all that much attention on a regular basis. If anyone does hear about what happened, the island’s going to get a lot of attention, but that’s probably not going to happen anytime soon.”

Crystal hesitated for a moment, then gave a nod, seeing logic in Briney’s statement.

“But when news does get out, the island’s going to be absolutely swarming with reporters and cameramen for a couple days,” Gold pointed out. “They did that around Cinnabar when the volcano erupted a couple years ago.”

Crystal gained a concerned expression while Richie, Samuel, and Ando looked confused. “Yeah. That was scary, hearing that the volcano had gone off like that.”

“Cinnabar?” Richie repeated. “Where’s that?”

“It’s an island off the coast of Kanto.” Crystal turned and looked at the Kirlia. “A close friend of mine used to live there, but he had to move to somewhere else because the entire island was destroyed a couple years ago. There was an active volcano there, but it ended up exploding and taking most of the land with it. All that’s left there is a Pokémon Center that they rebuilt after the disaster. It’s pretty much just an outpost in case anyone wants to go out and have some isolated training for a while.”

“Oh.” Richie blinked. “Who’s your friend?”

“Blaine. He used to have a Gym on Cinnabar, but he lost it when the volcano went off. He has a temporary one set up on one of the Seafoam Islands, but I’ve heard that he’s planning on making it more permanent and sealing off one of the entrances into Articuno’s nest.” Crystal smiled a little. “Apparently, the Legendary doesn’t like it when Blaine’s Pokémon heat things up and let it move into the lower caves.”

“A Legendary?” Briney looked back at Crystal in surprise. “Your friend knows where a Legendary lives?”

Crystal ducked her head. “He only learned about it by accident. There really wasn’t another place for him to set up a Gym. Articuno understands that, but she still doesn’t appreciate the fact that he uses Fire-Type attacks so much that all of her ice is melting.” She chuckled. “I wasn’t there at the time, but Blaine told me later that Articuno was glad that he hadn’t gone looking for Moltres. Those two Legendaries in the same area would have been disastrous.”

Briney considered that while Gold nodded in agreement.

“Legendaries are pretty protective of their territory, aren’t they?” Briney nodded to himself.

“That, and Moltres would pretty much destroy Articuno’s nest,” Crystal confirmed.

“Makes sense. We have a couple Pokémon here in the region that are pretty territorial. They live pretty far inland, though, so I haven’t seen their clan fights myself. Zangoose and Seviper are Pokémon that don’t like each other very much, so Trainers usually have either one or the other, but never both.”

“They’re even like that when they’re working on the same team?” Crystal asked in surprise.

“Oh, yes.” Briney nodded. “There are a couple Ace Trainers who kind of make it work, but put them together in a double battle, and they’ll be at each other’s throats rather than the match’s opponents.”

“Wow.” Crystal frowned. “I’m not sure that I want to have either one on my team, then, but I think I’ll have to think about it. I mean, if they’re stubborn enough to fight each other when they’re on the same team, I’m not sure that I want to try and befriend either one.”

“There were some Pokémon in Jhoto that were the same way,” Gold commented. “I had been considering putting a Houndour on my team at one point, but I didn’t want to have to catch an entire pack in order to have just one.”

Crystal’s illusion flickered as she shivered. “H-houndour?”

“Yeah. It’s a Fire and Dark—“ Gold cut himself off when he saw Crystal shudder more violently. He frowned. “What? Is it because it’s a Dark-Type?”

Crystal shook her head. “What’s Houndour’s evolved form?”

“Um...Houndoom?” Gold’s frown deepened when he saw Crystal shudder again. “What’s up? I know that you don’t like Dark-Types in general—“

“Don’t like them? I’m _terrified_ of them.” Crystal gave Gold a wide-eyed look. “Team Rocket used Houndoom in order to go after me when Blaine helped me escape. I don’t want to see them ever again.”

Gold’s eyebrows shot up in surprise while Richie covered his mouth with his hands, eyes filled with fear. Briney had a somber look on his face, frowning at Crystal. “Oh. I guess I’m kinda glad that I didn’t get one, then. Besides, I had a Typhlosion, so I don’t think that I really needed one.”

Crystal slowly relaxed, nodding. “I remember your Typhlosion. Magnus doesn’t have him, do they?”

“No; they’re all back at home in Jhoto. Professor Elm and Mom are keeping an eye on them right now.” Gold smiled. “I’m planning on heading back once all of this is over so that I can fill them in on my side of the story.” The smile faded. “I just hope that they aren’t going to look at me too differently after all of this.”

“Because you’re an Electric-Type?” Crystal cocked her head to the side, curious.

“That, and my Pokémon half isn’t even from Jhoto.”

That statement caused Crystal to stiffen up a little in surprise. “Really?”

“Yeah. I didn’t recognize the name when they told me, but at least it explained my hair.”

Crystal frowned. “Your hair…?”

Gold took off his baseball cap, revealing his full head of black hair…except for the white zig-zag streak that went right down the middle. “This is really the only thing that explains that I’m not exactly normal. It’s noticeable enough when I’m using my powers, but the rest of the time it’s like this.” He put his cap back on, pulling it down tight.

“Huh.” Crystal blinked a couple times, intrigued. “Did they say where the Pokémon had come from?”

“Yeah. A region called Unova. I was thinking of maybe traveling there with all my Pokémon once we take care of Magnus, just so that I can have a look around.”

“Unova, huh?” Crystal considered that. “I think I’m going to be doing a lot of traveling, too. Brawly suggested going to Kalos, but Unova sounds interesting, too. I’ll have to think about where I’ll want to go next.”

“You should probably talk to Professor Oak, in order to find out which region has what in comparison with the others,” Gold suggested. “He talks to other Professors, right?”

Ethan smirked. “He should. He invented the PokeDex years ago, remember? Pokémon Professors in other regions are going to _want_ to get to know him.”

Crystal chuckled and nodded in agreement. “Yeah. Especially since he’s working on the PokeDex pretty much all the time. I hope he isn’t working himself ragged without me to make sure he’s sleeping.”

Ethan snickered while Gold gained a lopsided smile and a shrug.

**Space Break**

Alpha gritted his teeth as he slammed the report down on his desk. “I had thought that there wasn’t going to be anyone to disturb the operation in Dewford.”

The Magnus grunt in front of him looked a little nervous. Besides the standard red and blue uniform, he also had a shiny gray bandanna tied around one arm, marking him as a member of the Steel unit.

“Boss Silver hadn’t counted on the Trainer who came in and took him out,” the grunt explained, looking nervous. “He identified who the Trainer was, though, and Lauraina confirmed her as the Trainer who had caused her trouble in the Petalburg Woods.”

“I read the report; I know what both of them have said about the Trainer.” Alpha frowned disapprovingly at the grunt, who stiffened and shut up nervously. “We may have gotten ourselves into a dangerous situation, getting attention from _this_ Trainer in particular. Have a message sent to the other Type Admins and let them know who it is that is in the region now.” Alpha paused for a moment, considering something else. “Where is it that Crystal will be heading next?”

“Scout said that she was going to Slateport with Gold and that old man from outside of Petalburg.”

Alpha nodded. “All right. Go and join your unit. I have no need of you.”

The Steel grunt looked immensely relieved, and clearly showed it as he bowed and scrambled out of his office.

Alpha sat back in his chair and steepled his fingers, frowning in thought. “Crystal…this is going to be quite troublesome.”

In the back corner of his office, a figure flickered into existence, tail twitching as a small smirk appeared on the figure’s face. “Did you think it was going to be easy? The Rockets had someone stopping them at every step of the way. It’ll be the exact same way with you.”

Alpha ignored the comment. “The first one…this is going to be very difficult indeed.”


	28. Battle Up the Beach

Crystal jumped off Briney’s boat and onto the dock, Richie and her other two Pokémon following after her with some to little difficulty.

“There are a lot of beaches here in Hoenn, aren’t there?” Crystal asked, looking over at Gold as he came off the boat.

“I guess.” Gold looked at the stretch of sand and umbrellas ahead of them. “There is a lot of water around here in the region, so I guess we shouldn’t be surprised by that.”

“This is Slateport’s beach,” Briney explained, talking over his engine. “People from the city like to come down here to relax and play with their Pokémon. Some people make this place a regular meeting place for battles, so you might get a few challenges as you’re heading up to Slateport.”

“Thanks for letting us know.” Crystal nodded to Briney. “And thanks for the ride from Petalburg to Dewford to Slateport.”

“It was the least I could do, kiddo.” Briney chuckled. “If you kids ever need my help again, don’t be afraid to give me a holler – either with that PokeNav of yours, or through Mr. Stone.”

“We’ll keep that in mind,” Gold said, nodding. He looked over at Crystal. “I’m going to go drop off the package that President Stone wanted delivered. Do you want to have a look around the city, or come with me?”

Crystal frowned, considering her friend’s suggestion. “Um…I think I’ll just wander around and take on any challengers. Maybe someone will mention something about Magnus being nearby and I can go and drive them out of the area. How about we meet up at the Pokémon Center later so that we can see if there is anything going on?”

Gold nodded. “All right. Sounds good to me.” He smiled and gave a wave as he started down the dock and onto the beach. “I’ll see you later, then!”

“Yup!” Crystal smiled brightly, then looked down at her team. “All right. Ando, Samuel, you guys need to get stronger. Richie’s at Level 20, and he’s already reached his first evolution.”

Samuel looked up at the Kirlia, then back at Crystal. “So Ando and I are going to be fighting up the beach, huh?” He puffed himself up a bit. “All right. Let’s go.” He started moving along the dock towards the beach, Crystal and the others following after him.

As they made their way up the beach, Crystal looked over at Richie with a small smile. The Kirlia still didn’t like his skirt very much, but it looked like he had gotten used to it a little – he wasn’t trying to push it down anymore, at least.

“Are you up for some fighting, too?” Crystal asked gently.

Richie considered the question, then shook his head. “I think I’ll stay back. I don’t want to fight looking like…this.” He motioned to the skirt, blushing a little bit again.

Crystal nodded. “All right. Samuel and Ando are going to end up taking most of the fighting, then. If you want to give fighting a try, let me know.”

“Okay.” Richie smiled a little and nodded.

“Hey there, kid!”

Crystal turned her head, and she caught sight of a muscular man standing underneath an umbrella, wearing a white and blue outfit that she had seen a couple times before in Kanto and Jhoto.

“Hi.” Crystal started over, followed closely by her Pokémon. “Are you a Sailor who works around here?”

The man nodded, smirking. “Yeah. I saw you coming off that little ship over there.” He motioned to the dock behind Crystal. “Did you just come from Petalburg?”

“Dewford, actually, but we did leave from Petalburg on Briney’s ship.” Crystal motioned to her team, smiling. “I just defeated Brawly this morning.”

“Really?” The Sailor’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s pretty good, considering the group that’s been causing so much trouble lately. I didn’t think that his Gym was still open, since it’s off the mainland.”

“It’s open,” Crystal confirmed.

The Sailor smiled. “Well, that’s good.” His smile turned into a smirk again as he pulled out a PokeBall. “Say, since you just came from his Gym, how do you feel about having a match against me? I’ve got a Machop on me, and he’s gotten antsy over the past couple of days.”

“I can take him,” Samuel said, puffing himself up – probably to make him look a little more intimidating.

The Sailor laughed. “Looks like your Shroomish is up for a fight. What do you think?”

Crystal smiled. “Well, I don’t see why not. Samuel is definitely up for it.”

“All right then!” The Sailor tossed his PokeBall forward, releasing the little Fighting-Type. “Machop, we got ourselves a battle!”

The humanoid Pokémon slammed a clenched fist into an open palm. “Awesome! I’ve got some energy to burn!”

“Ready, Samuel?” Crystal asked, looking down at the Shroomish.

“What do you think?” Samuel jumped forward. “Let’s go!”

The Sailor grinned. “Let’s start this off with a Karate Chop!”

“Headbutt!” Crystal countered.

Machop dashed forward and slammed his hand down onto the top of Samuel’s head, causing a burst of colorful spores to come up from the Pokémon. While the Machop stumbled back, gagging, Samuel recovered and rocketed forward, slamming into Machop’s stomach and knocking the wind out of him.

“Uh oh, this looks bad.” The Sailor gritted his teeth in a worried expression.

“Samuel, what was with those spores?” Crystal asked, looking down at the Shroomish while also watching the Machop out of the corner of her eye. The Fighting-Type looked a little sick to her.

Samuel shook himself. “Don’t worry about it. It just happens sometimes. I’ve been attacked by Tailow and Zigzagoon before, and I’ve gotten away pretty much okay.” He grinned. “And they’ve been poisoned, paralyzed, or knocked out cold.”

Crystal’s eyebrows shot up. “Really?” She looked back at the Machop. “It looks like he’s poisoned….” Crystal frowned. “Headbutt him again.”

“Leg Sweep!” the Sailor ordered.

Machop shook his head and frowned at Samuel before running forward again before preparing to kick forward a leg into Samuel. Samuel managed to shoot forward and ram into Machop again before the Fighting-Type could land a hit, sending the Pokémon flying back into the sand.

“Ow,” the Pokémon moaned. He tried to get up, and managed to get unsteadily to his feet before collapsing to his knees. A moment later, the Pokémon fell flat on his face.

Samuel smirked. “Heh.”

The Sailor sighed and shook his head. “I knew that I was getting in too deep, challenging a kid with the Knuckle Badge.”

“I’ve got Roxanne’s Badge, too,” Crystal added. “I’m planning on going up to Mauville next.”

The Sailor looked up at Crystal in surprise. “Really? You’re going to old man Watson next? I’d have thought that you would do all the islands first.”

Crystal shook her head. “I want to stay in the area. Norman said I couldn’t beat him until I have four Badges, and I’m halfway there. Since Watson’s the closest besides Norman, I’m going to Mauville.”

“Ah. Well, that makes sense.” The Sailor grinned. “Good luck, then. Something tells me you’re going to need it.”

“Thanks.” Crystal gave a nod in response, then turned and started up the beach again.

“I could have absorbed that guy’s health, you know,” Samuel spoke up as they moved past the umbrellas and people relaxing on the sand. A few heads turned and watched Crystal move past with her team, but none of them moved to talk to her.

“Yeah, but he wouldn’t be able to give you as much health as a Water or Rock-Type could,” Crystal responded.

“Still, I would have gotten _something_ back,” Samuel insisted.

Crystal sighed. “How about you get to use Mega Drain during our next fight, all right? There’s probably someone else around here who’s willing to have a match.”

“Hi!”

Crystal turned her head, and she caught sight of a little girl with a bright pink inner tube around her waist.

“Are you looking for someone to battle?” the girl asked cheerily, smiling.

Crystal nodded. “Yup. Samuel and Ando need a little training, and Samuel really wants to fight.”

Samuel puffed himself up again, causing the girl to giggle and the Shroomish to scowl.

“I’ve got a Pokémon that I can fight you with,” the girl said. “Could I fight you?”

“Sure.” Crystal smiled back. “Ando, let’s have you fight this time.”

Samuel deflated while Ando started to move forward across the sand. “Why not me?!”

“Ando is a couple levels lower than you are and needs to gain more experience,” Crystal replied, frowning at the Grass-Type. “So he’s going to be fighting a little more than you will be for now. Just wait, okay?”

Samuel scowled and muttered something, but complied.

The girl with the inner tube gaped at Crystal. “You can understand your Pokémon?” She let out a squeal and jumped up and down. “That’s so cool! You must be a really good Trainer!” The girl brought out a PokeBall from somewhere and tossed it forward, yelling, “Let’s go, Azu!”

As the Azuril popped out of her PokeBall, Samuel scowled and seemed to try and bury himself in the sand.

“Ando, use Smack Down,” Crystal told the Anorith.

“Use Bubble!”

**Time Break**

The Trainers on the beach were all decently strong – strong enough that Ando and Samuel both gained two levels, but they hadn’t learned any new moves. They had, however, used a few of Crystal’s Potions, and while there wasn’t any chance of her running out anytime soon, she was starting to become concerned.

“This beach is pretty big,” Crystal commented, looking back at where they had been. Looking ahead, she noticed that the beach abruptly ended and turned into solid dirt and concrete. “Looks like we’re almost at the end of it, though.”

“Hey, Trainers! If you’re looking for hot battles, you should come over here to the Soda Shack!”

Samuel looked over when he heard that. “Hot battles? What does that mean?”

“I don’t know….” Crystal frowned a little. “Well, if they have Fire-Types, Ando should be able to take care of them with Smack Down.”

Ando blinked. “Fire? Smack Down good against Fire?”

“Very good. From what I can guess, it’s a Rock-Type move, and Fire-Types don’t like it very much.”

Ando made a chittering noise, sounding pleased.

“So, you guys want to check this place out?” Crystal looked around at her team.

“We may as well,” Richie spoke up, nodding.

Crystal nodded. “All right. Let’s go, then.” She started towards the source of the voice – a little girl with pigtails standing in front of a wooden building that looked pretty solid despite being built on shifting sands.

Crystal stepped in through the open door and noticed instantly that the air was a little cooler inside the shack,

Which looked like it was a restaurant of some kind. Most of the people inside were drinking from glass bottles, though, and it didn’t look like there was much in the way of food that Crystal might have been interested in.

Her stomach growled a little, reminding her that she had spent her morning fighting Trainers and taking a boat ride from Dewford to Slateport, so food might actually be a good idea.

“Hello there!” The man behind the counter waved as Crystal made her way to the back of the shack, weaving around tables. “I haven’t seen you around here before. You a newcomer?”

“I guess you could say that,” Crystal replied. “I just came in from Dewford earlier, and I could really use something to eat. Do you have anything for Pokémon, too?”

“Oh? Been taking challenges, have you?” The man chuckled. “Well, we’ve got a lot of Soda Pop – I accidentally ordered too much the last time that I needed them. I’ve been handing them out to Trainers who have been having ‘hot battles’ in the shack all morning, but if you’ve been taking challenges out on the beach, that’s more than enough for me. Besides, all the Pokémon with these Trainers were completely taken out earlier.”

“Really?” Crystal looked around as the man disappeared under the counter for a moment and came back up with six glass bottles.

“Yup.” The man jerked a thumb down the counter, pointing out a figure sitting there already. “He whomped everybody. Quite the show to watch, if I do say so myself. Now, is there anything that I might be able to get for you and your Pokémon?”

“Well, I’ve got a Shroomish, a Kirlia, and a Pokémon called Anorith – it’s a Bug and Rock-Type, I think, but I haven’t gotten the chance to properly check yet.” Crystal nodded to each of the Pokémon standing around her as the man leaned over the counter in order to get a better look.

The man frowned at Ando. “What kind of Pokémon is that? I don’t think I’ve seen one that looked like _that_ before.”

Crystal paused for a moment. “I helped out the Devon Corporation a few days ago, and they gave me a revived prehistoric Pokémon as thanks. That’s the Anorith.”

“Really?” The man’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “I’d heard that they’d gotten something to work, but I didn’t think that they’d be reviving ancient Pokémon. Huh.”

He looked back up at Crystal. “So, can this guy eat Pokémon food?”

Crystal nodded. “Yeah. He has been for the last couple of days, and it doesn’t look like he’s had any problems with it.”

“All right, then. So that’s an order of three bowls of Pokémon food and…what are you going to want, miss…?”

“Crystal.” Crystal looked up at the boards behind the counter, scanning over the selection that the man had in his shop. “I think I’ll try…your Submarine Special.”

“All right then. It’ll take me a few minutes to get your sandwich together, so if you’ll just sit and wait right here, I’ll get to work on it.” The man grinned, then moved to the other side of his workspace – a small kitchen with a large refrigerator off on one side.

Crystal sat down on one of the stools in front of the bar, letting her invisible tail hang over the back end as Richie frowned up at one of the stools next to her. Despite having evolved, the Pokémon wasn’t really all that much bigger than he had been – it looked like the evolution only added about a foot in height to the little Pokémon. Although that certainly made Richie bigger than he had been, he was still pretty small.

Richie grabbed the top of the stool and started to climb up as the man behind the bar came over and handed Crystal three bowls of Pokémon food, each one clearly marked with a symbol that had become associated with each Type that was on her team: a leaf for Grass, a bright green, bug-like creature for Bug, and what looked like a pink ripple for Psychic. Crystal handed Samuel and Ando their bowls before she turned her attention to Richie.

“Do you need any help?” Crystal asked.

Richie shook his head as he pulled himself up. “I’ve got it.” He pulled his legs up underneath him and onto the stool before untucking them, letting them swing in the air like a human toddler’s as he started in on his food.

The man preparing Crystal’s sandwich looked over and smirked. “Psychic-Type Pokémon are pretty smart little guys, aren’t they? I don’t think I’ve ever seen one that hasn’t been able to figure something out eventually.”

Crystal nodded in agreement. “I have to say that, out of all the Pokémon Types that are out there, Psychic-Types have to be my most favorite.”

Richie smiled proudly. At the same time, Samuel scowled into his food.

“Are you planning on finding every single Psychic-Type there is in Hoenn, then?” The man started laying a number of sliced Berries down on the open sandwich.

Crystal shook her head. “As cool as that sounds, I know that I have to rely on different Types in order to make a good team. Richie’s good enough for me, and besides – some Pokémon of other Types can be pretty cool, too.”

“Yup. I know exactly what you mean – I’ve seen Trainers come through focusing on all different kinds of Types, but the ones that diversify usually do the best. I just brought it up because, if you were planning on collecting all the Psychics, you’d need two of those Kirlia.” The man nodded his head in Richie’s direction.

The statement caught Crystal by surprise. “What, really?”

“Yup. From what I’ve heard from the Breeders who come through here sometimes, there are two possible forms that a Kirlia can take when it evolves. You’d have to find a Breeder in order to get the full details, though. There’s a clan of them living up in Verdanturf, to the west of Mauville. You should check it out before your Kirlia evolves again.”

Crystal blinked, considering this. “That’s useful. We definitely wouldn’t want Richie to evolve into a form he might not like very much.” She looked over at Richie, who nodded in agreement.

The man chuckled in agreement, then handed Crystal an eight-inch long sandwich. “There you go. You mind paying up before you eat that? I don’t want to end up having someone give me an eat-and-run.”

Crystal nodded and paid the price that the man gave her for both her food and her Pokémon’s, then turned her attention to her sandwich and started eating.

“How long ago did your Ralts evolve into a Kirlia?”

Crystal turned her head when she heard the question, and she locked eyes with the other person who had been sitting at the bar eating. A grin came across her face. “Brendan! Hi! It’s been a while!”

“Hey.” Brendan gave a grin. “It’s been only what, a week?”

“Maybe. I haven’t really been keeping track of the days.” Crystal was surprised that it had been that short of a time since she had last seen Professor Birch’s son. It felt like far longer. “How has your journey been going?”

“Pretty well. I beat Roxanne a couple days ago, and I just came down from getting my Badge from Watson.”

“Really? I got a ride out to Dewford Island from Petalburg and just beat Brawly this morning. How did you get to Mauville before I got there?”

“You trained your team north of Rustboro for a while, right?” When Crystal gave a nod, Brendan continued, “They finally got around to connecting the Whismer cave with another one that leads straight through to Verdanturf. I was able to help them out so that they wouldn’t end up disturbing the Pokémon there.”

“Really?” Crystal smiled. “That’s great! I hope that Trainers going through there don’t disturb the Whismer!”

“I don’t think they will, but it always pays to be careful.” Brendan looked over at Richie and smirked a little. “So, the Pokémon Dad gave you evolved?”

“Just this morning. Richie’s still getting used to it, though, so I’m letting him take a little time off from battling so that he can get used to moving around.” Crystal looked over at Richie and smiled, a look that her Pokémon readily returned. “He was a big help against Brawly’s Pokémon team.”

“Really? They’re weak to Psychic-Types?” Brendan’s eyebrows shot up curiously.

Crystal nodded. “Brawly’s a Fighting-Type Trainer, so he’s got some interesting Pokémon to work with. My. Briney might be able to give you a ride there.”

“Mr. Briney? You mean that old sailor that lives outside of Petalburg?” When Crystal nodded again, Brendan gained a thoughtful expression. “I’ll have to get into contact with him, then. Then I wouldn’t have to ask around for a Pokémon that would be able to Surf across to Dewford.”

“What about Watson? What Types does he like using?”

Brendan smirked. “You haven’t figured it out? Watson’s an Electric-Type Trainer.”

Crystal blinked, then frowned. “What do you mean, ‘figured it out’?”

Brendan frowned. “You mean you don’t know? Watts are used to measure electricity. The Gym Leader’s name is _Wat_ son.”

Crystal blinked a couple times before she put two and two together, and she hit her forehead with the palm of her hand. “Of course! How could I have missed that?!”

“You can do that with the other names of the Gym Leaders, too,” Brendan added, smirking. “ _Rox_ anne likes rocks, for example.”

“And Brawly probably gets into _brawls,_ ” Crystal continued. Her eyes widened a moment later. “Oh! And Norman is probably a Normal-Type Gym Leader!”

“Going by that pattern, it does make sense.” Brendan nodded in agreement.

“But how did _that_ happen? It’s almost like, when they were arranging for Trainers to take over as Gym Leaders, they were looking for people whose names matched the Types of Pokémon they liked!” Crystal laughed. “Oh, wow! I think it’s like this in Kanto and Jhoto, too! I have got to tell Gold about this!”

“He might already know, actually,” Brendan responded. “He did fight through the League in Jhoto, didn’t he?”

Crystal’s grin faded a little. “Oh, yeah….” She frowned. “Well, now I’ll be able to figure out who I’m going against without going in completely blind. Thanks for the tip, Brendan.”

“No problem.” Brendan smirked a little before looking over at the other two Pokémon sitting near Crystal. “So, those guys are a part of your team, too?”

Crystal nodded. “Yeah. These two are Samuel and Ando. Samuel carried me through Roxanne’s Gym, but Ando hasn’t been able to help me against any of them yet. He’ll probably do pretty well in Watson’s Gym, though. How about your team? How many members do you have now?”

“I’ve got three.” Brendan motioned to his waist, where three PokeBalls were attached. “Zuzu, my Mudkip, evolved a while back and ended up being a big help against Watson. Apparently, it becomes part Ground.”

Crystal wracked her brain for a moment. “Right…you and May mentioned something about her Torchic being at a Type disadvantage against your Pokémon…I guess that means she has a Fire-Type?”

Brendan nodded. “She caught a Shroomish in Petalburg to make up for it, but she hasn’t taken any of the Gym challenges recently. Last I saw her when I got here, she was hanging around the Contest Hall in Slateport.” He paused for a moment. “Hey, you only just got here, didn’t you?”

“Yeah. Mr. Briney got me here a little bit earlier with Gold. He went into the city ahead of us, though.”

Brendan nodded. “How about I show you around? I’ve been doing a little exploring the past couple of days in order to do some training for whichever Gym I end up taking on next, and there’s some pretty interesting things around the city.”

Crystal cocked her head, considering Brendan’s suggestion. “Well, I _have_ been training a lot recently. It might be good for us to have some time off.”

Brendan gained a wide grin and nodded. “That’s exactly what I was thinking. Go ahead and finish your sandwich; I’ll take you into the city as soon as you’re ready.”


	29. Contests and Museums

It was obvious that Brendan had explored Slateport pretty thoroughly during his time in the city, because he was pointing out things that Crystal thought only a native would probably know about. He led her through a marketplace that was filled with different kinds of merchandise – including a booth that sold incense, which was something that Crystal decided she was going to have to come back for later.

Brendan then pointed out the Pokémon Fan Club, which was where Trainers came to show off their Pokémon. Crystal had thought that the Pokémon did look pretty content and happy, but she didn’t want to put any of her team up to that just yet. She didn’t need to go to the Name Rater’s, either, since all of her Pokémon had names that they were content with.

“And up here is the Contest Hall that I mentioned earlier,” Brendan said, motioning to the bright red building that was ahead of them.

“I think May might still be hanging around here somewhere – either that, or she’s back at the Pokémon Center waiting for me to head back.”

Crystal nodded, then looked up at the red building in front of them, eyeing the large, yellow ribbon that was above the doors. “Huh. So, people show off their Pokémon here, too?”

“Yeah. It’s basically a beauty contest for Pokémon, where the Trainer shows off not only their Pokémon’s looks, but also what they can do with their moves. It can be pretty interesting to watch, but I don’t think that I’ll be getting my team to do any of that anytime soon.” Brendan’s nose scrunched up as he frowned at the building. “I’m not into that kind of thing.”

Crystal frowned, considering the other Trainer’s statement. “I don’t know whether I should get into it or not, actually. Kanto doesn’t have anything like this – at least, not that I’ve noticed.”

“Hey, Crystal! It’s been a while!”

Crystal turned her head and caught sight of a familiar figure running towards her and Brendan. Running next to her was a Pokémon that was covered in red and yellow feathers, with what looked like claws on the ends of its wings.

“Hi, May.” Crystal smiled. “It’s been a while. How’ve you been doing?”

“Pretty good. My team hasn’t gotten all that big, but we’ve been working on a few things.” May’s bright smile faded a little. “The Contest Hall here won’t let me register for a Contest Pass. Apparently, this one isn’t where beginner Coordinators can start, but there’s one in Verdanturf that is.” She sighed. “I’m starting to wish that I had tried to apply for one there when you were fighting against Watson.”

“Well, we’re probably going to be heading back there sometime.” Brendan shrugged. “Crystal’s actually planning on heading up that way to go after Watson.”

“You are?” May turned and looked at Crystal with a surprised expression.

Crystal nodded. “Yeah. I’ve already defeated Roxanne and Brawly, and Brawly suggested I go and fight Watson next.”

May gained a surprised expression. “Really? Do you have any Pokémon that are good against Electric-Types?”

“Not right now, but I think that Ando might be able to do some damage.” Crystal motioned to the Pokémon, who tapped his claws against the cement a couple times.

May blinked blankly when she saw the Pokémon, then frowned. “What kind of Pokémon is that?”

“A prehistoric one. The Devon Corporation has a machine that can make them using fossils, and Ando was the first one to come through. He hasn’t had too much of a chance to use his techniques, though, but he’s proven to be pretty good when he needs to be.”

“Do you think that Devon could end up reviving more?” May down into a crouch to give Ando a closer look.

“I’m not sure. I think they’re going to offer it to Trainers if they manage to find a fossil of their own somewhere.”

“I guess that makes sense.” May rose to her feet. I mean, it’s that Trainer’s fossil; that Trainer should get the Pokémon from it, not somebody else.” She looked back at the Contest Hall and let out a sigh before looking back at Crystal. “So, are you thinking about maybe doing a Contest, too?”

Crystal frowned at the question, then shrugged. “To be honest, I’m not exactly sure what it is that I want to do with Contests. I mean, I said that I was going to do the League challenge, and if I end up doing Contests as well….” She trailed off as her frown deepened. “I’ll have to think about it.”

May smiled at the statement. “It’s okay if you do the League first and then do the Contests. That way, you could get the Gym Badges, and then focus on the different categories in Contests.”

“Different categories?” Crystal’s invisible tail twitched curiously.

Brendan let out a groan. “Here we go.”

May shot her brother a look, then looked over at Crystal and explained, “Contests have a total of five different categories you can enter your Pokémon in. There’s Beauty, Toughness, Smartness, Cuteness, and Coolness. Depending on which one your Pokémon works with the best, the Contests can be very different. For example, in a Cuteness contest, the Pokémon has to look absolutely adorable in order for it to be able to get any attention from the judges. And in a Toughness contest, the Pokémon shows of its strength more than anything else.”

“And Smartness concentrates on the intelligence of the Pokémon,” Crystal guessed.

“Exactly!” May’s smile widened. “That way, there’s a category for everyone, so that no one is really left out if they want to get in.”

“Huh.” Crystal’s ears perked up a little at this. “You know, that actually sounds a lot more interesting than I had thought it would be. I’ll have to think about it, though – and see if anyone on my team really wants to get into that kind of thing. I don’t really know if it would be a good idea to try it out right now.”

May sobered up a little, nodding. “It’s all right. I’m not going to push you into it or anything like that.”

Crystal nodded in thanks, then turned to look at Brendan, who had what appeared to be an annoyed frown on his face. “Well, we’ve explored part of the city. What about the rest of it?”

“The only places that we haven’t been to yet that would be interesting would probably be either the harbor where they make and keep cargo ships and the Oceanic Museum,” Brendan replied. “The harbor’s been closed to visitors because they don’t want any possible sabotage from Team Magnus, and I haven’t been in the museum yet.”

“I have,” May offered. “It’s full of stuff about ocean currents and things like that.”

“Really?” Crystal blinked. “Does it have anything on what Pokémon like to live in certain areas?” Upon seeing the looks she was getting from May and Brendan, she explained, “I haven’t trained a Water-Type before, and it might be a good idea for me to know where it is that Pokémon like that like to live.”

“Having a Water-Type might be a good idea,” May admitted. “I could make some pretty cool effects if I ever enter a Contest that lets me use two Pokémon at once.”

She frowned. “And, you know, I actually didn’t see if there was a list of Water-Types that might be living around here. Still, it would be a good idea to go and have another look around.” May looked at Brendan and Crystal with an expectant expression.

“I’m up for it.” Brendan shrugged. Crystal nodded in agreement.

Samuel let out a huffing noise. “I don’t see why we need to get a Water-Type, but if you really think we need one….”

“Water good,” Ando said insistently.

May let out a gasp. “Crystal, your Pokémon! It just –“

“Yeah, Ando does that.” Crystal chuckled. “I think it’s mostly because there aren’t any other Anorith around in order for him to speak Pokémon, so he’s picked up our language instead.”

“That’s one smart Pokémon,” Brendan commented, wide-eyed. “And are you sure that you have no idea where Trainers can pick up fossils?”

Crystal shrugged and shook her head. “Nope. Maybe Mr. Stone does, but I don’t know if he’d be willing to tell Trainers where it is that they’re hiding.”

Brendan frowned at this and started muttering to himself. “Note to self: find out where fossils can be found and get one.”

**Time Break**

The receptionist accepted the 150 Poke entrance fee from Crystal, May, and Brendan, giving the three Trainers a smile. “Thank you. I hope you enjoy the exhibits.”

Crystal gave a nod and a smile in response before moving past the entrance and into the museum, May and Brendan following after her.

“So, this is a museum focusing on water,” Crystal noted, turning slowly as Richie looked up in amazement. Samuel and Ando had to be returned to their PokeBalls so that neither one of them would end up accidentally scratching the other visitors – or spewing any spores if disturbed. “It definitely looks the part.”

“Yeah,” Richie agreed, nodding.

“You look like you’ve never been to a museum before,” May remarked with a giggle.

“Well, there’s only one museum that I know of in Kanto and Jhoto, and that’s the one they have for the Kanto region’s fossils,” Crystal explained. “I haven’t seen one that’s been based on nature before.”

“I guess museums can be kind of rare,” Brendan admitted. “Do you know if they’re planning on building more museums in any other regions?”

Crystal shrugged. “I’m not sure. Maybe I could ask Professor Oak about it later to see if he’s heard anything about it from the other professors. But first, I’m curious about this museum.”

That said, Crystal turned and started for one of the exhibits in the center of the room, only for Richie to grab her hand and pull on her, stopping the Kanto Trainer short. She looked down curiously, frowning at the Kirlia.

“What is it?” Crystal asked, frowning.

Richie didn’t answer, instead looking over at something that was somewhere on the museum’s main floor. Cautiously, Crystal followed his gaze, and her ears swiveled when she caught sight of a group of strange figures standing on the other side of the museum, looking at some of the exhibits that involved what looked like a red ball in a cylinder of water.

The figures that were standing there looked like they were Trainers, since they had at least one PokeBall on the belts at their waists. The clothes they were wearing looked rather strange: red and blue uniforms with a jagged edge running down the middle. And each one had a red bandanna tied around the blue sleeve, showing what looked like a mountain symbol of some kind.

Crystal frowned, thinking it was strange that there was a group that was wearing uniforms in the museum. She took in a deep breath and closed one eye, concentrating on her aura.

And what she saw made her realize that Richie was right to be nervous.

Richie hummed, noticing Crystal’s emotions change.

“Crystal?” May came over next to the Kanto Trainer, causing her to jump a little. “What’s up?”

Crystal opened her eye again, taking in a shaky breath. “There’s something about those guys over there.” She nodded in the direction of the figures on the other side of the museum. “There’s something about them that doesn’t feel right to me.”

Brendan frowned. “Something that doesn’t feel right?”

Crystal nodded. “Yeah. Doesn’t that uniform look weird to you?”

May and Brendan exchanged looks, then looked over at the figures on the other side of the area.

Brendan frowned. “They kind of do. I mean, I don’t think they look like anything from a school or anything like that. And they don’t look like a group that is here on a company field trip….”

“I think there’s something about them that’s pretty weird,” May agreed. “But I don’t know if they don’t feel _right.”_

Crystal’s invisible ears twitched and swiveled as she tried to concentrate on what might have been said over on the other side of the museum. She wasn’t able to pick up very much, considering the distance, but what she did pick up was only a little.

“-Stern—parts—oper—“

Crystal couldn’t help but feel her blood run cold. She looked down at Richie and whispered, “It sounds like those people are up to no good. Are you up for doing something about them?”

Richie looked up Crystal with wide eyes before he gained a more determined expression. “Yeah.”

Crystal gave the Kirlia a nod, then turned and started forward, her hand hovering over the two occupied PokeBalls on her belt.

“Crystal?” May called out after the Trainer. Brendan didn’t say anything, however; he just looked back and forth between his sister and Crystal before starting after her, grabbing one of his own PokeBalls from his belt.

“Hey!” Crystal called out, coming to a stop a short distance away from where the odd group of figures was standing. “Who are you guys?” Her invisible tail lashed back and forth as Richie stiffened up a little, prepared to move into battle if he needed to.

One of the figures turned, smirking a little. “You really dare to ask us who we are?”

Brendan stopped moving, his eyes widening as he recognized something about the figures who were standing there. “Crystal! That’s Team Magnus!”

Crystal stiffened when she heard Brendan’s warning, her eyes widening a little.

The figure who had spoken – a slightly round man with eyes that looked more like thin slits – smirked proudly. “Ah! So you know the team’s uniform outside of the Type units? You must have had a run-in with other members.”

Brendan took a step back, holding up the PokeBall in his hand. Crystal’s psychic abilities were starting to rise up a little, her mental senses spreading out and picking up the emotions of the other people and Pokémon in the museum. It felt like May and Brendan were nervous about Magnus officially revealing themselves, and they were getting attention from the other visitors to the museum, as well.

Which meant that Crystal wasn’t going to be able to use her abilities more than she already had without getting attention from who knew how many people.

Richie tugged on Crystal’s jacket sleeve. “We’ve got this.”

Crystal looked down at the Kirlia, surprised when she heard the little Pokémon use the exact same words that she had said a few hours ago in Brawly’s Gym. A moment later, she gained a smile and gave a nod. “Right.” She looked back at the Magnus group and pulled out one of her PokeBalls, tossing it up and releasing Ando. “What are you doing here? I heard you say something that didn’t sound very good.”

The man with the slit eyes frowned at Crystal’s statement as his mouth completely flipped over from a smile to more of an upside-down “v” shape. “Eavesdropping? Tsk tsk, dear, you should know that you shouldn’t be doing that.”

“When you guys are causing trouble all over the region, I think I get a right to figure out what you’re doing and see if I can put a stop to it.” Crystal frowned up at the man, trying to figure out what sorts of Pokémon he had in the Balls on his belt. Her mental powers couldn’t break through PokeBalls in order to get to the Pokémon inside, but she could spread her powers out in order to see if anyone else was thinking about their team.

The man’s frown deepened. “Well, aren’t you a cynical little girl?”

Crystal bristled a little, her invisible tail stiffening. “I’m not little.”

“Sure. Of course you’re not.” The man made a dismissive waving motion. “But that’s beside the point. You were trying to overhear our conversation on purpose. That isn’t exactly something someone with proper social manners would do.” A grin started to slowly creep across the man’s face. Coupling that with his slitted eyes, and that made him look devilish. “And that means that I’m going to have to teach you some manners!”

The man started to reach for the PokeBalls at his waist, but a bright yellow flicker of lightning suddenly zapped between his fingers and the red and white spheres.

“Don’t you dare, Tabitha,” came a voice from a set of stairs nearby.

Crystal turned her head when she heard the familiar voice, and she smiled out of relief and happiness. “Gold!”

The man with the slit eyes glared at the Jhoto Trainer, shaking out his hand and letting out a hiss. “You. What are you doing here?”

“Trying to make sure that the world can keep going despite whatever it is that you’re planning?” Gold snapped in response, walking down the rest of the stairs. Ethan was sitting on his shoulder, bristling, and Strike was prowling near the Trainer’s feet, showing some of his teeth. “Why is it that you’re after the parts that Devon sent here?”

“I knew that they were up to something,” Crystal commented, frowning. Ando made a noise that sounded like two rocks scraping against each other.

Tabitha made a _tsking_ noise again. “So, you’re still in Hoenn, Gold? I’d have thought that you would have gone back to Jhoto and those adopted parents of yours.”

Gold came to a stop next to Crystal, his Pokémon still glaring at Tabitha and the other Magnus members. “Mom isn’t worried about me. I conquered the Jhoto Pokémon League; I can handle myself. Which means I can be here to take you down.”

Crystal nodded in agreement.

Tabitha didn’t look all that pleased at Gold’s statement. “Hmph. You’re quite annoying – the both of you. I’m going to take care of the both of you before you can get any more involved.” He grabbed one of the PokeBalls off his belt and started to move to toss it forward, but Strike moved first, firing off a thin spurt of electricity that zapped the man’s hand and worked its way up his arm.

Tabitha gripped his arm and hissed as the entire limb stiffened, sparks occasionally popping up from the sleeve of his shirt.

“You’re not letting _that_ thing out here,” Gold said warningly. “We’re in a _museum_ , and I don’t think that I have enough money to pay for any damages we end up making in here.”

“Hey!” Another one of the Magnus members stepped forward, holding up a PokeBall of his own. “Don’t attack Tabitha!” He threw the Ball forward, releasing what looked like a little pile of magma with a large pair of eyes. “Slugma, blast them!”

“Zuzu, Mud-Slap!” Brendan threw his PokeBall forward, releasing a blue and orange Pokémon with a large fin on the top of his head. The Pokémon took in a breath, then spat out a glob of mud at the Slugma. The glob of magma promptly collapsed in on itself and was returned to its PokeBall without firing off a single attack.

The Magnus member gritted his teeth while Crystal looked back at Brendan and gave him a wide grin. “Nice one!”

Brendan gave a nod in response. “We have to take these guys down fast, before they do any damage to the museum.”

Tabitha gritted his teeth, still gripping his arm. “Get those kids!”

The Magnus group promptly split up into pairs, moving towards Crystal, Gold, Brendan, and May, with PokeBalls at the ready. Tabitha remained back behind the others, smirking despite the fact that his arm was still stiff.

“You think that you’re going to be able to do against us?” one of the Magnus grunts in front of Crystal sneered. “We’re part of the Fire unit! There’s no way that you’re going to be able to do anything against us with such puny Pokémon!”

“I’d like to see you try to take us down,” the other grunt – a woman – added, grinning maliciously. She fingered her PokeBall for a moment before releasing the Pokémon inside – another Slugma, which Crystal barely recognized from Jhoto.

“You’ve definitely got no chance,” the man agreed, releasing his own Slugma. “Not when you’re taking the both of us on at once.”

Ando moved in front of Crystal instantly, holding up his claws in a threatening manner. Richie hesitated for a moment before moving forward, as well.

“Richie, are you sure that you’re ready for this?” Crystal asked, frowning in a concerned expression.

Richie nodded, not taking his eyes off the Slugma. “Yeah. I can do this.”

“All right. You don’t want to touch either one of those Pokémon – they’ll burn you easily. Ando, use your Water Gun. Richie, I’ll let you choose either Disarming Voice or Confusion.”

Richie straightened in surprise at Crystal’s statement while Ando fired off the Water Gun at the Slugma, getting a cry of pain from the magma Pokémon. A moment later, Crystal caught sight of the psychic sound waves that Richie had grown to use as his Confusion attack, and the Slugma that had been hit by the Water Gun bobbed for a moment before collapsing in on itself like the one that Brendan had taken down a moment ago.

The woman gritted her teeth as she returned her Slugma while the man grinned and said, “Ember that stupid Pokémon with the skirt!”

The Slugma responded by taking in a breath and spitting out a small burst of flame that hit Richie in the chest, causing the Kirlia to stumble back a step and brush at where the attack had hit him.

“Just like with the other one,” Crystal said, nodding encouragingly.

The two Pokémon didn’t bother to look back or nod in response to Crystal’s statement; they just went ahead and attacked, taking down the Slugma with little to no effort on their part.

The Magnus man gritted his teeth as he returned the Slugma to its PokeBall. “Great. If we hadn’t been forced to partner up with _them,_ then I would have done a whole lot better.” He and the woman next to him backed away, scowling at Crystal and her two Pokémon.

Crystal frowned at the two Magnus members, wondering what it was that the man meant. Work with “them”? Who was that?

“Yes!”

Crystal turned to look around at the rest of the museum, noticing that May was jumping up and down with her bird-like Pokémon, who was grinning widely. Brendan and his blue and orange Pokémon looked pretty smug, as well.

And Gold was standing with his arms folded across his chest, Ethan taking a similar stance on his shoulder while Strike stood in front of them, snarling. Their opponents had not only had their Pokémon defeated, but sparks of electricity were clearly sparking off the Magnus members, too.

Tabitha let out a spluttering noise when the Trainers tuned and looked over at the Magnus member.

“Gold is this guy....” Crystal trailed off, not exactly sure how to phrase the question. There were people watching them on the other side of the museum, and she didn’t want to give things away unless Gold decided to. “Well, like—“

“No.” Gold shook his head. “He works directly under one, like the Trainer I beat up on the second floor.” He jabbed a thumb towards the stairs that he had come down a few minutes ago. “They were after the package that I had to deliver from Devon in Rustboro. I wasn’t expecting two different Type groups, though.”

“What are you talking about?” Brendan frowned. “Is there anther group of Magnus people here?”

Tabitha snorted, looking somewhat amused, but he didn’t say anything when Gold looked over in his direction.

“Yeah,” Gold said, nodding. “You remember the Ground-Types we ran into in Littleroot? They usually work under Diamond. Each Type has its own unit. There’s Fire down here, and I ran into Water-Types up there, but their leaders aren’t here.” He motioned to the stairs again. “They’re still up there, knocked out.”

Tabitha’s amused expression turned into a scowling frown.

“So, what are we going to do with these guys?” May asked, frowning at the Magnus members who were now without Pokémon.

“No matter what you do, we’re going to get out of here,” one of the Magnus members responded. “Not even the strongest prison could keep us held in place!”

His partner elbowed him in the gut. “Hey! Be careful talking about stuff like that! If you let them know too many things, then they’re not going to get us out of here at all!”

“Right, right. Sorry about that.” The Magnus member rubbed the back of his head.

Crystal’s invisible tail twitched, wondering what it was that they were talking about before remembering something. “That flash….”

The others looked at her in confusion.

“Flash?” Brendan blinked. “You mean like the move?”

Before Crystal could answer Brendan’s question, a loud explosion suddenly went off on the floor above, causing everyone to look to the stairs as a cloud of dark smoke started rolling down to the main floor.

A figure ran out of the cloud, wearing a striped blue and white shirt and a blue bandanna holding back long, orange hair. She was holding onto a PokeBall in one hand and looked slightly panicked.

As the woman ran towards Tabitha, she caught sight of Crystal and the others and slowed to a near stop. Crystal couldn’t help but notice that the woman eyed her with a strange look that almost looked like…the woman recognized her somehow?

“Shelly!” Tabitha barked. “Help us get out of here now!”

Shelly shook her head, her strange look changing to a determined and panicked expression. “Not gonna happen, Snorlax! We aren’t going to be able to get out of here the usual way!”

“What?!”

“The Boss won’t let us use that escape in order to get out of every situation. I’m out of here!”

With that, Shelly ran out the front door without looking back, leaving Tabitha with a shocked look on his face.

Tabitha stuttered for a moment, then looked around the room at the shocked expressions that the other Magnus members who were standing there. “What are you waiting for?! Get out of here before someone thinks of getting out of the cops!”

Tabitha’s words caused the other members who could still move to start to scramble out of the museum with panicked yelps. Three of them stayed behind a little while longer in order to grab the two paralyzed Magnus members and to help Tabitha get out with his paralyzed arm. In seconds, the entire museum had been cleared of Magnus members, leaving the museum with a heavy silence over everything.

Crystal looked around, noticing that they were getting wide-eyed expressions from the other visitors to the museum. Her invisible ears flicked back nervously while Ando and Richie moved closer to their Trainer nervously.

Someone suddenly stumbled down the stairs from the second floor, coughing and hacking as the dark smoke continued to slowly fade. “Did anyone catch the Magnus Trainer who threw the Smoke Ball at me?”

“They ran out just a moment ago,” May responded. “I kind of wasn’t expecting them to do that after their Pokémon were taken out.”

“Tabitha didn’t use his,” Richie pointed out. “Gold didn’t let him.”

Crystal nodded a little in agreement, frowning a little as she looked over the man who was recovering from the smoke. He was wearing what looked like a lab coat over something that looked like a mix between a Sailor’s outfit and a gentlemen’s outfit.

“Well, that’s a shame,” the man said, sighing. “I’d hoped that the police would have been able to get information out of that young woman, because her teammates certainly don’t seem to know anything.” He turned to look around at the four Trainers. “Thank you for taking care of those people. I don’t think that I would have been able to take care of them myself.”

“Why is it that they were here?” Brendan asked, frowning.

“They were here to steal the parts that I had ordered from Devon,” the man explained. “I needed them for a project that I’ve been working on for some time, but I have no idea why.”

“Mr. Stern is planning on building something in order to explore the caverns underwater,” Gold explained to the others.

“Why are they going after you for that?” May asked, frowning.

“I’m not exactly sure,” Mr. Stern replied. “I don’t really keep track of what it is that is going on all that much, because I’ve been so pulled into my work.”

“It might be a good idea to watch out for what’s going on,” Crystal said, her eyebrows scrunching together to make a concerned expression. “It isn’t a good thing to get caught by surprise like that.”

“It might also be a good idea to keep your project under wraps for a while longer,” Gold commented. “You might be able to avoid Magnus for a while longer.”

Stern frowned and inclined his head. After a moment, he gave a nod. “I believe I will do that, even though I will have to keep up with appearances around the region. Thank you for the suggestion, Gold.”

Gold gave a nod in response, then turned and looked at the others. “We should head over to the Pokémon Center to heal up and catch up.”

May and Brendan exchanged looks while Crystal looked down at the two Pokémon that she had out.

“Sounds good to me,” the Kanto Trainer commented.


	30. Ranger!

“There was a member of Team Magnus in Petalburg Woods?” May asked in surprise.

“I’d thought that there was something wrong there,” Brendan said, frowning. “The Tailow I caught was a little more sickly than other ones that Nurse Joy had seen.”

Crystal frowned, concerned. “I hope it’s okay. Samuel said that he could handle it because of his spores, but he did say that the other Pokémon in the area weren’t going to be able to handle it as well.” She looked around the Pokémon Center’s cafeteria, wondering if there was anyone who was giving them strange looks. Seeing that there wasn’t anyone looking in their direction, she returned her attention to her conversation with the others – as well as their dinner.

“He’s fine now, but I have to be careful about letting him out sometimes.” Brendan tapped one of the PokeBalls on his belt. “I’ll be able to let him out in my room and out on some routes, but he won’t be able to handle the other areas until after he evolves.”

“But what if that happens again?” May pointed out. “The Magnus group that was in the Petalburg Woods could end up showing up again.” She looked at Crystal. “You and Gold have been fighting against these guys so far. We should probably be helping, too.”

“No.” Gold shook his head. “You guys shouldn’t get involved in this. You were able to take care of the grunts that we ran into in the museum, but there are other, stronger units that we could end up running into. Crystal and I might be able to handle them, but you guys would be in danger.”

Brendan frowned. “Are you sure about that? You guys don’t have the teams that you used in Jhoto. How would you be able to take on Magnus with the teams you have now?”

Crystal’s invisible ears tilted back.

“Gold showed us that he would be able to handle it,” May pointed out, nudging her brother with an elbow. “He’d be able to take care of them by himself, remember?”

“Yeah, but what about Crystal?” Brendan motioned to the Kanto Trainer.

Crystal ducked her head, finding herself suddenly being the center of attention.

Richie looked at his Trainer worriedly. “Crystal…?”

Crystal looked over at the Kirlia and smiled a little before looking back at the other Trainers. “I do have a way to defend myself without relying on my team, but I don’t feel comfortable with revealing it.”

May and Brendan exchanged looks, doubtful.

Gold rolled his eyes. “Anyway, I saw that the members of Team Magnus were fleeing north. Now that I’ve dropped off the parts from Devon, I can go after them. If you two really want to help, we can split up in order to cover more ground and stop anything that Magnus might be planning.”

Looking at May and Brendan, Gold added, “I would also suggest that you pretend that you two aren’t really getting involved.”

“You mean like, we should have alter-egos?” May frowned. “Like those cartoons?”

“If you want.” Gold shrugged, then smirked. “It would definitely be good practice for you and your Pokémon if you really want to get into those contests. Super heroes are definitely dramatic.”

May blinked at that, then leaned back a little in her chair, folding her arms across her chest. “Huh.”

Crystal smiled a little and shook her head at Gold’s suggestion while Brendan frowned a little. “We don’t have to be all _that_ dramatic about it.”

“Excuse me? You kids wouldn’t happen to be the Trainers who took care of Team Magnus at the museum, would you?”

Crystal turned her head when she heard the new voice, and her eyes widened in surprise as her invisible ears snapped to an attentive position.

May and Brendan looked at the figure and hesitated, exchanging nervous glances when they saw the red and white uniform that the teenage girl in front of them was wearing…as well as the strange device that was strapped on one of her arms.

“You’re a Pokémon Ranger!” Crystal exclaimed in surprise.

The girl gave a slight smile and a nod, while the large, orange-yellow mouse with the wire-thin tail next to her stood a little taller, trying to make himself look more important. “Yeah. My name’s Aria. This is one of my Partner Pokémon, Rick. And you are…?”

“Crystal.” Crystal rose to her feet and held out a hand for Aria to shake; the Ranger accepted the gesture while the Kanto Trainer looked over the Ranger’s face: brown hair tucked back into a short ponytail sticking out the back, and serious blue eyes that seemed to speak of years of experience at doing her job. “And these are my friends – Gold, and May and Brendan Birch. What are you doing here?”

Aria nodded to them while Rick – her Raichu – moved a little closer to Gold and started sniffing him curiously. “I’m here to investigate Team Magnus’ recent movements and see if there’s anything that can be done to round them up. I have experience in helping to take down evil organizations like this, so I thought that I might be able to do something in order to assist the local authorities. I heard from Mr. Stern that a group of Trainers had helped to keep members of Team Magnus off his back in the Oceanic museum, and you four fit the description that he gave me.”

May, Brendan, and Gold exchanged looks while Crystal nodded. “We were in the museum at the time, and I overheard them mention something that didn’t sound very good.”

“Do you think we can talk about this somewhere more private?” Gold interjected. “If you want to know about what happened in the museum, some of the things that you’re going to need to know are things we aren’t exactly willing to talk about in public.”

Aria blinked at that, then sent a sidelong look at Crystal, frowning. “Does that mean you’re the same Crystal that…?” She trailed off, and the Ranger made a strange motion that seemed to hint at something on top of Crystal’s head.

Crystal’s invisible appendages twitched at Aria’s motion, and she hesitated for a moment before nodding. “Yeah. How did you know?”

“Professor Hastings likes to investigate into different goings-on in other regions, and he’s close friends with my family and Professor Oak’s,” Aria explained. She paused for a moment, then added, “One of my cousins was forced into joining with that particular group a while back, and he escaped with Blaine. I think you might have met him? Capone?”

Crystal’s eyes widened in surprise. “Capone’s your _cousin?_ Wow, I didn’t think that he had connections that went into the Pokémon Rangers.”

“What are you talking about?” May asked, confused.

Aria gave Crystal a curious look, and the Kanto Trainer shook her head. After a moment, the Ranger paused, considering something.

“We should probably take your friend’s advice and talk about things in private,” Aria finally said. “Do any of you know a place where we might be able to do that?”

“May and I are renting a room on the second floor of the Pokémon Center,” Brendan offered. “We could talk in there.”

“Sounds good.” Aria motioned to the stairs at the back of the cafeteria. “Lead the way.”

Brendan nodded, then rose to his feet, Gold and May following suit as he started for the stairs. Crystal and Aria followed a short distance behind them with Richie and Rick.

“So, you were involved with what happened at the museum, then,” Aria noted.

Crystal nodded, keeping her tail close in case she ended up bumping into anyone by accident. “I’ve run into them in a few other places, too. So far, they’ve been easy to stop, but I don’t know what I’m going to end up running into deeper into Hoenn.”

“Yeah, I know the feeling.” Aria clenched her left fist, looking down at the device that was on left wrist. “It’s like the more we get involved, the stronger they become in retaliation. That’s what I saw when I was going after Dim Sun with Keith, at least.”

“Dim Sun?” Crystal’s ears twitched. “That doesn’t sound like a very nice group….”

“They weren’t.” Aria sighed and shook her head. “They were Pokémon poachers who went down an even darker path than most groups do. They wanted to be able to have control over all of the Pokémon in Almia and terrorize everyone. We’re lucky that we managed to get there in time, or else who knows what Darkrai might have done….”

“Darkrai?” Crystal’s ears tilted back a little, unsure about how the name sounded. “What kind of Pokémon is that?”

“It’s a Pokémon that’s been associated with nightmares.” Aria paused for a moment, then shook her head. “We don’t need to worry about him right now, though. We’ve got other things to worry about.”

The group soon reached Brendan and May’s room, and they slipped inside. Aria, who was the last one in, made sure that the door was locked so that no one would be able to come in unnoticed.

“So, where have you run into Magnus so far, and what is it that they’ve been doing?” Aria asked, frowning at the four Trainers. Rick nodded in agreement to the Ranger’s question, folding his arms across his chest and looking as serious as an Electric Mouse could.

“Crystal’s really the only one who’s run into them the most so far,” May said, nodding to the Kanto Trainer.

Aria looked at Crystal with a curious expression.

“Gold and I flew in from Kanto and landed in Littleroot…about a week ago, I think.” Crystal looked over at Gold, who nodded. She looked at Aria and continued, “There was a group of Ground-Type Trainers there, which we beat with the help of a friend of mine before we moved on to Oldale, where we met Professor Birch….”

Crystal skimmed over most of her journey, only covering the locations where Magnus had forced her to stop, as well as the trip to Dewford and then Slateport, in great detail. By the time she had finished, Aria’s curious expression had turned into something that looked more like a determined frown.

“So, Magnus has different units based on different Types, and you’ve only run into about five of them so far,” Aria remarked. “That’s definitely different from Dim Sun and Rocket.”

“There’s more to them than just that,” Gold spoke up. “May and Brendan already know this, but the leaders of those units aren’t just normal humans.” He raised his hand, and a small spark jumped from his fingertips to one of Ethan’s cheek pouches. “They can use Pokémon abilities, too.”

Aria’s eyes widened, and she and Rick exchanged looks of surprise before they looked back at Gold.

The Ranger’s surprised expression quickly became harsh. “How?! That kind of DNA combination should be impossible!”

Gold shrugged. “I don’t know how they managed to do it, but I do know that they managed to make one of every Type except for Psychic. The only kid they didn’t manage to find before they started their plans was the Normal-Type, and I know that she’s safe.”

“Safe?” Aria frowned.

“Yellow’s with Blue right now,” Crystal explained. “They are somewhere in the region, but I know that Blue will be able to keep an eye on her so that Magnus doesn’t get her.”

Aria considered that for a moment, then nodded and relaxed a little. “I see. Well, that’s good, at least. But they have units for every Type anyway?” When Gold nodded again, Aria frowned. “That’s a lot of Types.” She looked down at Rick. “Even if I had all six of my partner Pokémon with me, we wouldn’t be able to do a very good job against them.”

Rick nodded. “Yeah. I’d hate to run into that Ground-Type guy Crystal was talking about.” He stuck his tongue out and scowled.

“I don’t want to meet a Dark-Type,” Richie spoke up.

Crystal shuddered a little when she heard Richie’s statement, but she managed to keep it down enough that the shiver was hardly noticeable. “We’re not exactly prepared for all of the Types, either. That’s why I left my main team in Rustboro so that I could gather together a team of multiple Types.”

Aria nodded. “A pretty smart choice, but I would still be willing to call on those other Pokémon when you have to. Strong Pokémon like that could be something that Magnus won’t expect this early on in their movements.” She looked over at Gold, frowning. “Is there anything you can tell us about the other Trainers that are a part of this group? I want to know who it is that we might be up against.”

“Well, like Crystal said before, Lauraina is a bit crazy-smart when it comes to poisons,” Gold said. “I know Silver personally, and I can say that he’s one of those Trainers that likes to push his Pokémon without any regard of their feelings for them. And he probably will do the same with his own, personal training. I didn’t get to know the others as well, but I know that they usually end up staying in groups with the Trainers from their own region. So I saw a lot of Silver, and some of Lauraina – who doesn’t really have a home region to call her own – and not all that much of everyone else.”

Aria frowned. “Well, that’s not very helpful, but it is something that I can work with. What about their base? Do you know anything about that?”

Gold shook his head. “I don’t know where it is. All I know is that it was on an island somewhere off the coast.”

Rick snorted. “Like that’s going to be any help.”

“Hey!” Ethan jumped off the bed, where he had been sitting next to Gold. “I’d like you to try and figure out where it is in the middle of the night when you’re flying to Kanto! I had to focus on where we were going, and Ethan had to keep the energy so that we wouldn’t fall into the sea! Do you have any idea how much that ended up taking?!”

“Hey, hey!” Rick held up his paws, as though that would be enough to keep the Pikachu from attacking him. “Look, there are a lot of islands around Hoenn, okay? It would take months to check all of them, and some of them aren’t even there all the time!”

“What do you mean, some of them aren’t there—“

“If we can’t get to that base, then there’s probably others scattered around the region somewhere,” Aria spoke up, cutting Ethan off short. Crystal wasn’t sure if she understood what the two Electric-Types were arguing about, but she did look a little annoyed. “It’s going to take some time in order to hunt them down, but probably not as much time as surfing around the region will.”

“Do you think we might be able to help?” May suddenly asked.

Brendan looked at his sister in surprise. “May, I thought you just wanted to do Contests!”

“Well, I can’t do contests if I have to constantly worry about what Magnus is going to do next!” May responded.

Her bird-like Pokémon – Combusken, Crystal remembered May calling her – nodded in agreement. “Yeah! Those guys are causing a lot of trouble! They could force the halls to shut down before we even get a chance to perform!”

“I don’t want too many people to get involved,” Aria said, shaking her head.

“In a way, they already are,” Crystal pointed out. “They helped Gold and me against the Magnus Trainers who were in the museum. And like it or not, Magnus is just going to keep appearing all over the region, running into us and forcing Brendan and May away from their personal goals for a while. We’re all going to have to work together.”

Rick and Ethan looked at Crystal for a moment, then looked at each other.

Rick shrugged. “She’s got a point.”

Richie, who was standing near Crystal, nodded in agreement. “Yeah. And there are a lot of Magnus people. I don’t think we’d be able to take them on by ourselves.”

“We were talking about splitting up before you found us,” Brendan admitted. “Gold wasn’t exactly happy about the idea, but we’ve already gotten involved.”

Aria frowned, considering Brendan’s statement. After a moment, she let out a sigh. “All right. I guess there really isn’t much of a point in me trying to keep as many Trainers out of this as possible. And, from the sound of it, other Trainers are already starting to get involved, since you mentioned Steven.” Aria nodded to Crystal, who nodded in response. “Other Trainers probably are going to end up helping us along the way, but we should be careful around which ones end up getting to know us.”

“What do you mean by that?” May asked.

“If Trainers hear about what I can do, there’s a chance that it could end up all over the news,” Gold responded dryly. “I got more than enough attention when I helped to take down Team Rocket. When they find out that I’m part Pokémon, too, everyone’s probably going to go nuts.”

Crystal’s invisible ears tilted back, flattening against her head at the thought.

“I’m afraid I can’t offer you protection against that,” Aria commented, smirking a little. The smirk faded a moment later, and she looked around at the group again. “So, which direction are you going to end up going?"

“For now, we’re going to be heading north together,” Gold responded. “Slateport doesn’t offer too many options for division, but I think that Mauville might.”

Aria considered that for a moment, then nodded. “That sounds about right. Mauville is a sort of crossroads in the center of the region.”

“Which means that there might be news of Magnus whereabouts coming in,” Rick added, smirking.

Crystal nodded. “Then we can decide from there which direction we want to go in.” She frowned a little. “What about you? Do you want to come with us?”

Aria shook her head. “I think I’ll go on ahead. Since you guys are also traveling through the region for the Badges and Contests, you’d slow me down. Besides, I’ve already done that kind of thing.” She motioned to her waist, smirking a little.

Crystal’s eyes trailed down, and her eyes widened when she saw the PokeBalls attached to Aria’s belt. “You’re a Trainer, too?”

“I took a journey through Hoenn when I was younger,” Aria confirmed. “Then I decided I wanted to be able to help Pokémon more, and I got the chance when my parents moved to Almia so that Dad could be closer to his job. I applied for the region’s Ranger School, and I’ve never regretted my decision.”

Crystal couldn’t help but feel amazed at Aria. Going from being a Trainer to a Ranger meant that she was a special combination that very few people decided to be. As soon as a Trainer became a Ranger, they were only allowed to have the Pokémon they had used as their team – any other Pokémon they ended up running into couldn’t be caught or permanently befriended to become their Partner, as they already had multiple Pokémon as their friends.

This also meant that they weren’t allowed to own empty PokeBalls of any kind.

Gold moved to his feet, shifting Crystal out of her thoughts and back to the present. “Well, it’s pretty late now, so we probably shouldn’t head out of Slateport until tomorrow. I’m going to get a room and get some sleep – you guys should, too.”

Crystal nodded in agreement, also rising to her feet. “I don’t want to be caught half asleep if we end up running into anyone from Team Magnus.” Her tail twitched at the thought of her illusion possibly failing in the middle of a match, exposing her ears and tail at the slightest hint of a yawn.

Aria gave a nod. “I think I’ll go and get a room, too. It’s been a long time since I’ve slept in a Pokémon Center.” She gave a slight smile, then turned and unlocked the door before stepping out of the room. Gold and Crystal followed her a moment later with their respective Pokemon.


	31. Trick Houses and Old Friends

The next morning, Crystal met with Gold and the others in the cafeteria again, refreshed and hungry. It was early enough that there weren’t very many people up and about in the cafeteria, so they were able to eat without anyone coming over for any small conversations before heading out towards the northern edge of town.

“I think I’m going to head east for a while,” Aria commented, shifting her backpack’s position on one shoulder. “Sometimes, bases might be located in the least expected places.”

Crystal nodded in response. “Good luck.”

Aria gave a nod in response, then turned and walked off into the trees, disappearing from sight.

“All right.” Gold got the attention of the others. “You guys are ready for this?”

Crystal and her three Pokémon nodded in agreement. “I made sure to stock up on Potions, so we’re pretty much good to go.”

“I’m all set, too,” Brendan added, nodding to Zuzu and the other Pokémon he had out – Lucy, a Pokémon that he had introduced as the evolved form of Zigzagoon. “And Lucy will be able to look for things if we really need them.”

The Linoone nodded in agreement, looking determined.

“And we’re good to go, too.” May and her two Pokémon, Combusken and Lombre, had determined looks on their faces.

Gold nodded in response, then turned and started down the route, the other three Trainers following after him.

“There really isn’t much to look at on this route,” Brendan commented. “We came down this way from Mauville after I beat Watson.” He pointed down the path at what looked like a small building ahead of them, with a large ramp going up behind it. “We couldn’t take that part of the route because it’s built for bicycles – Trainers aren’t allowed to walk up there because they could end up getting run over.”

“Are there that many bikers in that part of the route?” Crystal thought back to Kanto. “There never were very many of them on the bike route from Celadon to Fuchsia.”

“I think they sometimes hold bike races up there,” May explained. “And if there are any bystanders up there without anything to allow them to stay out of the way, then that path could end up being pretty dangerous.”

“Oh.” Crystal nodded. “I can see that being dangerous. So, what kinds of Pokémon did you guys end up running into?”

“There are a few Electric-Types running around,” Brendan replied. “I had been thinking about catching one, but I wasn’t sure which one I should go for.”

“There’s a Poison-Type that’s on the Route, too.” May stuck her tongue out in disgust. “The ones I’ve seen act like bottomless pits every time that I end up seeing them! It’s gross!”

“Poison-Types?” Gold looked over. “Kal could use some training. If you see one of them, let me know.”

“Kal?” Brendan raised an eyebrow.

“His Kadabra,” Crystal explained. “He caught him as an Abra in Granite Cave on Dewford.”

“Really? Huh. I think I’ll go looking for one when I go over there. I’ve heard that they’re pretty good Pokémon in a fight.”

“I can vouch for that.” Crystal nodded. “One of my friends in Kanto had a Kadabra, and he used it all the way up through the Elite Four. He traded him to me later, and now I’ve got an Alakazam. They’re wicked smart Pokémon.”

“Yeah.” Richie nodded in agreement. “I remember meeting him. I’d kind of like to talk to him again, now that I’ve evolved….” He looked down at his skirt, hands trembling a little bit as though he was sorely tempted to start trying to push down on it again. Richie was able to hold himself back from it, however.

“Kaz didn’t exactly have anyone who would have been able to tutor him in his psychic abilities,” Crystal told her Pokémon. “And he’s not the same species that you are, either, so I don’t think that would be very helpful for you.”

“What did Richie say?” May asked, curious.

“He wanted to talk to Kaz about Psychic abilities, now that he’s evolved,” Crystal explained, looking over at the other girl Trainer. “But since Kaz and Richie are so vastly different, I’m not exactly sure if it’s going to help. Kaz relies on a pair of spoons in order to fire off his attacks – Richie doesn’t. And I don’t know how Kaz would feel about teaching, either.” She paused. “If anything, actually, I think that my…abilities would be closer to yours, Richie. I could probably give you some help, if you wanted me to.”

Richie looked up at his Trainer in surprise. “Really? You’d do that?”

“What do you mean by that?” Brendan asked, frowning. “You said you had abilities yesterday, but you haven’t told us what they are yet.”

Crystal paused at the statement, noticing that Brendan and May were both looking at her with curious expressions while Gold was watching the two Birches. Crystal realized a moment later that she wasn’t going to be able to keep her own abilities hidden for too much longer, if Brendan and May were going to keep bumping into her.

Crystal hesitated, nearly stopping in order to consider her options for whatever it was that she could end up saying next. However, that was quickly interrupted by someone calling from further down the path.

“Hey, Crystal! Gold!”

Crystal and Gold turned their heads, and Crystal’s eyes widened in surprise when she saw the blue-themed figure who was coming towards them.

“Archie?” Crystal blinked in surprise. “What are you doing out here?”

“You know that guy?” May motioned to the teenager who was coming towards them.

Gold nodded. “Yeah. He works for Devon.”

“President Stone sent me out to do a little research,” Archie explained as he came to a stop in front of the group. “Since Maxie and I want to look into the habitats of Water and land Pokémon so that they don’t become endangered, he suggested I start in Slateport’s bay first. I had to catch a Wailmer and get it to carry me over here first, though, and that took all of yesterday.” Archie looked at May and Brendan curiously. “Who are you guys?”

“I’m Brendan, and this is my sister, May.” Brendan motioned between himself and his sister, who was looking at Archie with a curious expression.

“Nice to meet ya!” Archie grinned. “The name’s Archie. I’m a Water Pokémon Trainer.” He looked over at Crystal. “Crystal helped to stop me from doing something stupid a while back, and now I’m working for Devon with my bro.”

“Speaking of which, where is Maxie?” Crystal looked around the Route, not catching sight of the redhead anywhere nearby. “Is he traveling with you?”

“Nah.” Archie shook his head. “He helped finish off the Verdanturf tunnel without disturbing the Whismer, then decided to go through and started north towards that volcano.” He smirked a little. “He really wants to get a proper Fire or Ground-Type so that he doesn’t have to rely on his Fletchling all the time.”

“Fletchling?” May repeated. “What is that?”

“It’s a Pokémon our dad got him a couple years back.” Archie smirked. “I’m glad I’ve got Peng, though.” He threw up a PokeBall, releasing the little white and blue-striped Pokémon.

As the Water/Flying Pokémon landed on his shoulder and yawned, May let out a cooing noise. “Your Wingull looks so cute!”

Peng shut his mouth and let out a squawk of surprise. “Cute?! Me?! No way!”

Archie looked surprised at May’s statement. “Seriously? Peng is _cute?_ ” He shook his head, looking like he was either going to laugh or cry. “I don’t think that I’ve ever heard someone call Peng cute before.”

May smiled. “Well, I’m planning on being a Coordinator, so I’m hoping to improve my being able to see what sorts of attributes Pokémon can have for Contests.”

Archie raised an eyebrow, then grinned. “Well, kudos to you for not taking a League Challenge and doing something else with your team. I know that I like what I’m planning on doing.”

Crystal smiled and gave a nod. “That’s better than what could have happened. Are you planning on heading down to the beach on Slateport, then?”

“I was thinking about it, but it looks like there’s a lot of water out that way.” Archie jabbed a thumb back behind him and further up the route. He grinned widely. “I kinda want to have a peek around there so that I can figure out what common Pokémon live in the area. Willy said that Tentacool are all over the place, but I’d like to see what might live in the water there anyway. Besides, there was a pretty interesting house back there that I was about to have a good look at.”

“An interesting house?” Brendan repeated. “Well, we could definitely give it a look.”

The group started moving forward again, Richie moving into the center of the group and getting the attention of Peng.

The Wingull let out a spluttering noise. “Hey, are you the Ralts that I saw before? What happened?”

“I evolved,” Richie replied, ducking his head.

Archie looked down and promptly burst out laughing. “Hey, Crystal! Is your Pokémon wearing a skirt?”

Richie started blushing furiously again, looking down at himself.

“Mr. Briney told me that both genders of Ralts evolve into that form of Kirlia,” Crystal responded, patting Richie on the head. “There’s a Soda Pop shack on the beach in Slateport; the owner said that there were two forms Richie could evolve into, and he suggested going to a Breeder clan near Mauville for more information.”

“Two evolutions?” May repeated. “I knew from Dad that Ralts eventually turned into Gardevoir, which are absolutely gorgeous Pokémon, but I didn’t know that they had another one.”

The group soon arrived at the building that Archie had pointed out, only to find that the door was locked and that there was a sign on the front door: “The Trick Master is away on a journey of discovery after running out of ideas for tricks and traps to a Ranger who is possibly smarter than he.”

Crystal frowned at the sign. “It looks like the word ‘Ranger’ is written over ‘Trainer’. I wonder why that is.” She shook her head and stepped back from the door before looking at the others. “Well, it looks like we’re not going to be able to get inside anytime soon.”

Brendan frowned. “Huh. I kinda which that he was around so that I could have a look inside. Maybe he’d have been able to do something about making anti-Magnus traps to keep them off some people’s backs.” He sighed and shook his head. “Oh, well.”

“Well, we can do something else while we’re in the area,” Archie commented. He grinned. “There are Trainers hanging around here. I took down a girl with a Roselia with Peng a little while ago.”

Peng shook out his wings. “I still think I’ve got some Stun Spores on my wings somewhere.”

Samuel looked up, smirking. “I bet I could remedy that a little.” He puffed up and released a small amount of yellow spores from the top of his head.

Peng pulled his wings in. “I don’t think so.”

Samuel twirled a little bit, not looking the least disappointed. “Suit yourself.”

“We should probably keep moving,” Gold spoke up. “I’m kind of curious about what Pokémon that are hanging around the area.”

“I’d kind of like to see if I might be able catch something around here,” Brendan added. He gripped one of the PokeBalls at his waist, adding, “I remember Dad talking to the other Gym Leaders sometimes in order to do research on the different Types, and one of them was a Flying-Type leader…Winona, I think. I’m going to need an Electric-Type in order to take them down, and I think I saw a Pokémon that was one.”

“A Flying-Type Gym Leader?” Gold repeated.

Ethan grinned widely. “That’s going to be _fun._ I’m definitely looking forward to that!” The Pikachu started cackling while Gold smirked and rolled his eyes.

“Some Electric-Types are so cool!” May grinned. “I really like the looks of some of them, and that can make them really popular for Contests.”

“They’re good for battle, too,” Gold pointed out. He reached up and scratched Ethan on the side of his head, causing the Pikachu to lean into his hand and gain a happy look on his face. “I’m glad I got Ethan in the Viridian Forest, and my Ampharos was a major reason that I was able to become a Champion in Jhoto.”

“A what?” Brendan frowned. “The name is familiar, but I don’t think I’ve seen an Ampharos.”

“Hi!”

Crystal turned, her hand in one of her backpack’s pockets. “That sounded like a Pokémon’s voice….”

“It is one.” Brendan looked at Crystal in surprise. “You can’t tell?”

Crystal shook her head. “I can hear people and Pokémon speaking the same language, but I can tell which one belongs to a Pokémon and which one is a human’s. I just can’t tell what kind of Pokémon it is when I haven’t heard the voice before.”

“Really?” May looked at Crystal in surprise. “I didn’t think that could happen to anyone.”

Crystal shrugged.

“Are you guys Trainers?” the voice asked again.

Gold turned, then caught sight of something standing at the edge of a patch of taller, rougher grass a short distance away. “There’s the Pokémon.”

Everyone else turned to follow Gold’s gaze, and they caught sight of a small, white Pokémon with blue-tipped ears and blue cheeks, with minus signs inside them.

“You guys look a lot like Trainers,” the Pokémon added.

“We are Trainers,” Crystal replied. She started walking forward at a casual pace, her team following after her as she came in front of the Pokémon and got down into a crouch. “My name is Crystal. Those others are my friends, Gold, Brendan, May, and Archie, and this is my team – Richie, Samuel, and Ando.” Crystal motioned to each person in turn as Gold and the others came over to join her.

“I’m a Minun,” the Pokémon said. His nose twitched a little, and he frowned up at Crystal. “You smell funny.”

“I’ve gotten that a lot.” Crystal smiled while May, Brendan, and Archie looked at each other in confusion, having only gotten half of the conversation. “Are you looking for a Trainer?”

The Minun blinked at the question, then frowned and cocked his head to one side. “Are you offering to become my Trainer?”

Crystal shrugged. “Well, I’m wondering if you’d go with any one of us, so it’s up to you whether you want to travel in our group or not.”

The Pokémon frowned at that. “Um…you’re going to let me choose? Really? I thought that all Trainers were just going to catch every Pokémon they see.”

“Not all of us are like that,” Gold spoke up. “For instance, most Trainers can’t understand Pokémon. Crystal can, and I can for the most part, but other Trainers might not have that ability.”

Archie looked over at Peng and raised an eyebrow, and the Wingull started to whisper into his Trainer’s ear. Understanding flashed across his face after a moment, and he smirked a little.

“If the little guy’s looking for a Trainer, it might be a good idea for him to go with one of those guys.” Archie jabbed a thumb at everyone else in the group. “I’m planning on being a Water Trainer, so I wouldn’t be a good fit.”

“What do you mean?” May looked over at Archie, frowning.

“I’ve seen Minun before – they live in my old region. They’re little Electric-Types and breed so much and so fast that it’s pretty much impossible to have people catch every single one of them. Plusle, too.”

Brendan considered that for a minute, then got down into a crouch next to Crystal. The Minun looked at him curiously as he said, “Well, you’ve got a few choices left, then. You can either go with the Trainers who are planning on taking on the Pokémon League and doing a lot of battling, or you can go with my sister, who’s planning on training Pokémon to be able to perform in Contests.”

“Contests?!” A white Pokémon with red ears and plus signs in her red cheeks dashed out of the grass, wide-eyed and eager.

Crystal chuckled and looked back up at May. “It looks like there’s a Pokémon here that really likes Contests.”

May’s eyes widened as she looked down at the red and white Pokémon, who was looking around with wide eyes that were slowly becoming nervous rather than eager. She moved forward, catching the Pokémon’s attention. “Hi. I’m May, and I’m going to be a Coordinator.”

“Going to be?” The Minun cocked his head.

May blinked a couple times before frowning. “I haven’t been able to participate in a Contest yet, but I’m hoping to get into one in Verdanturf – I’ve heard that people can start doing Contests there.” She looked over at Crystal curiously, and saw that the Kanto Trainer had a smile on her face.

“You haven’t started yet?” the red and white Pokémon asked in surprise. She moved forward a little, looking at May with a cautious expression. Then she looked back at the Minun, frowning. “But….”

Crystal frowned, wondering why the Pokémon was looking back at Minun.

Archie sighed. “I should’ve guessed.”

“What is it?” Brendan looked at the Water Trainer.

“Minun are never without a partner from a similar species – Plusle,” Archie explained. “It’s rare to see them separate. You catch one, you have to catch the other – usually their brother pairs, sister pairs, mating pairs….” He frowned. “And I think this one’s a brother-sister pair, which isn’t quite as common. They’re usually the most difficult to split, though.”

“How do you know all this?” Gold asked. “You’re a Water Trainer, aren’t you?”

“Before Mom died, she liked to breed Pokémon. Those two were her favorite Pokémon.” Archie motioned to the Plusle and Minun in front of them. “Dad’s still got a pair of them at home, and if Maxie wasn’t so into Fire and Ground-Types, he probably would have taken them along as a part of his team.”

Brendan frowned at that. “Huh….What do you think? Would it be all right if they split between me and May? We’re brother and sister.”

The Minun’s and Plusle’s ears twitched at that, and they looked up at Brendan and May.

“You are?” Plusle asked, looking up at Brendan curiously.

Brendan noticed the look he was getting from the Pokémon, and nodded. “Yeah. And we’re traveling together.”

Plusle and Minun exchanged looks, both appearing to be surprised. Then they looked up at May and Brendan before saying at once, “I’ll travel with you!”

Crystal smiled as Plusle moved towards May and Minun moved towards Brendan. “Looks like they’ve made their decision.”

Brendan’s eyes widened in surprise, and he quickly scrambled for his backpack and pulled out a PokeBall, grinning a little. “So, how do you want to do this? Do you want a battle? Or do you just want to hop right on in? Either way works for me.”

May held out an empty PokeBall of her own, and Plusle simply touched it before disappearing inside it with a flash of white light. The Ball wiggled in her hand for a moment before settling down with a quiet _click_.

Minun looked over when he heard the sound, blinking before shrugging and touching the PokeBall Brendan was holding. He too disappeared inside, and the PokeBall let out a _click_ after a few wiggles.

May and Brendan both looked at the PokeBalls for a moment, then looked at each other and before letting the two Electric-Types out again. The Plusle and Minun instantly ran to each other and stood, side-by-side, looking up at their new Trainers.

Crystal smiled and rose to her feet, stepping back so that Brendan and May could speak to their Pokémon without herself being involved. “I’m glad that turned out so well.”

Richie nodded in agreement. “Yeah. It’s cool that they can still be together without really being apart.”

Archie nodded in agreement. “Mom’d definitely approve if she was still around.”

“Speaking of which, where were you living before you ended up moving here?” Gold looked at Archie with a curious eyebrow raised. “I haven’t seen Pokémon like them before, so it can’t have been Kanto or Jhoto.”

Archie blinked at the question, and he opened his mouth and was about to respond when there came a loud cry from somewhere up the route, causing his and the others’ heads to turn sharply.

“Hey! You there! What do you think you’re doing, riding that Pokémon out here?!”

May gasped. “That’s—“

“What do you mean, what am I doing?” another, familiar voice responded. “Swamp is a part of my team, and I need to get across the bay somehow. He can handle my weight.”

Brendan started running through the grass, catching his Minun by surprise for a second before the little Electric-Type turned and scrambled after him, Zuzu on his heels. It took May a moment longer to follow after him with her own Pokémon.

“We’d better go see what’s going on,” Gold said, frowning. He started moving, followed by Crystal, Archie, and Crystal’s team.

It didn’t take them too long to find the sources of the voices.

Crystal stopped running when the ground underneath her feet took a sharp turn. She knew that she could keep going at a low hover, but she didn’t want to end up doing that out in the open where people could see her.

Besides, she doubted that she really need to go out there in order to see if there was anything she could do to help.

Aria stood on the back of a Pokémon whose head was sticking up halfway out of the water, revealing two large fins sticking up off the top of his head. Rick was sitting next to her, looking like he was ready to release an electrical attack, if the sparks coming off his tail were anything to go by. Her opponent stood on the back of what looked like a spherical, dark blue Pokémon, but Crystal couldn’t see any features that would let her know what the Pokémon was.

Aria’s opponent, on the other hand, was clear of the water, although the blue outfit looked like it could blend in with the sea easily.

“Sapphire!” May exclaimed.


	32. Chapter 32

Gold looked at May in surprise. “You know her?”

May nodded while Brendan stared out over the water in surprise. “She’s Norman’s daughter. She and Ruby disappeared a while back.”

Sapphire turned her head, surprise appearing on her face. “May? Brendan?”

Aria glanced over at them for a moment, then returned her attention to Sapphire, ready to move in case the girl on the unidentified Pokémon decided to start moving.

Gold frowned, and Crystal noticed that what hair that was sticking out from under his hat was actually sparking. “This isn’t good….”

“What is it?” Crystal frowned at the Jhoto Trainer.

“Do you see that outfit Sapphire’s wearing? It looks a little like the ones that the Magnus Water unit in the museum was wearing.”

Crystal frowned at that, then gave Sapphire’s outfit a second look. Sure enough, her pants were black and pretty much looked skin-tight, and the bandanna she was wearing to keep her hair tucked back looked similar to Shelly’s – it even had the strange, white symbol on it that the orange-haired Trainer’s did.

Sapphire’s surprised expression faded into a more serious one as she frowned at Crystal and Gold. “You…you’re Gold, aren’t you? The fugitive that I’ve been hearing so much about? And that must be….” Her eyes narrowed. “What do you two think you’re doing here?”

“Stopping Magnus,” Gold shot back. “What does it look like?”

May and Brendan exchanged looks, worried, while Sapphire’s eyes widened.

“You must be insane, trying to go after us!” Sapphire exclaimed. “You’re seriously going to try?” She let out a short bark of laughter. “There’s no way that you’d be able to get very far.”

“We’ve already taken on Silver, Lauriana, and Diamond,” Gold shot back, catching Sapphire by surprise. “We can take you on, too.”

“What I’d like to know is why you yelled at that Ranger like that,” Archie spoke up. He sounded calm, but there was something about his voice that made Crystal’s danger sense go off a little. “You do realize that people and Pokémon can travel on the water as much as they want to? There’s more water than there is land because of how many Water Pokémon there are!”

Sapphire looked a little thrown off by that statement.

“Are you the one who’s created that blockade in the popular waterways?” Aria spoke up, frowning. “All of the Water Pokémon that are simply sitting there so that ships can’t pass through? Because if you are, then you’re keeping supplies and shipments from coming in and out of Hoenn, and that’s damaging economies all over the world.”

Sapphire hesitated at that, looked over at May and Brendan, and then flicked her wrist. The water underneath her and her Pokémon swelled up in response and expanded, creating a large wave that exploded with light and sound, forcing Crystal and the others to shield their eyes as the wave rained down on them.

When Crystal lowered her arm in order to see what had happened, Sapphire’s head was disappearing underwater, her face a mask of emotions.

Aria gritted her teeth, frowning at the spot where Sapphire had disappeared. “So, that’s the leader of the Water-Type Magnus unit, I’m guessing?”

“Makes sense to me,” Gold called back. “It didn’t look like she was wearing a breathing mask while she was going down, so she must be able to breathe underwater with her Water-Type half.”

“Sapphire’s a part of Magnus…?” May looked around at the group, a frown on her face that made her look more concerned and panicked than anything else. “But why?”

“She and Ruby have always been close friends of ours, and they know that there are some organizations that aren’t exactly good things to have around,” Brendan added. “Norman used to live in Jhoto – he heard about what happened with Team Rocket, and he moved to Petalburg a couple years back when he thought that there was something going on in his home region. Sapphire and Ruby were with him then. I can remember him pounding in warning after warning about Team Rocket and how groups like that shouldn’t exist.”

“So it’s possible that there could be a reason why she joined them,” Aria noted. She frowned. “Wait – Ruby?”

“Sapphire’s brother,” Brendan explained. “He disappeared the same time she did.”

Aria’s frown deepened. “Uh huh….”

“I don’t know what exactly is going on here, or whoever this Magnus group is, but that girl definitely needs some talking to about who owns the sea,” Archie declared suddenly. “It isn’t a toy that she gets to mess with and leave everyone else to deal with the consequences.”

Aria looked over at Archie, frowning. “And you are?”

“Archie. I’m planning on doing some research on Water Pokémon.” Archie clenched his fists. “And that Sapphire girl just rubbed me the wrong way. I’m going to go after her.” He started towards the water, gripping a PokeBall on his belt.

“Hang on.” Gold held up a hand, stopping Archie short. “You don’t know which direction Sapphire went off in, since she went underwater. Your best chance at finding her again would probably be to stay in the area and see if there’s anything that could be out of place.”

“And what do you suggest I do while I’m waiting, then?” Archie spat back. His hand was still hovering over the PokeBall like he was going to grab it and throw it any second now.

Crystal frowned for a moment before her expression brightened. “You came to Slateport for a reason, right?”

Archie looked over at Crystal, blinking for a moment as his frown faded. He gave a slight nod. “Yeah. I wanted to study the Pokémon that live in the area.” He blinked again. “Are you suggesting I do that in order to look for her and do what I was planning on doing?”

Crystal shrugged while Gold nodded.

“It’ll work as a cover,” Gold commented. “That way, you won’t let anyone else learn about what it is that you’re planning on doing. And you could get your own team to become stronger, too.”

Archie looked out over the water for a moment, frowning. After a moment, he sighed and looked back at Gold. “All right. Fine. But if you hear anything about where it is that she might be, I’m going to want to be able to get into contact with you so that you can let me know.” He held up a dark blue PokeNav model, smirking a little bit.

Crystal scrambled to pull out her own PokeNav. “I’ll probably end up running into them the most often out of all of us, so you can have my number.”

Archie nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

Archie and Crystal exchanged numbers, then Archie turned his attention to Gold, May, Brendan, and Aria. “If any of you guys want some help with anything, I don’t think Mr. Stone would think it too out of his way to give you guys a hand. He’s got connections all over the region, last I heard, so you’d probably be able to find someone that works for Devon somewhere. Don’t be afraid to give them a holler if you do, kay?”

Aria gave a nod. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

She looked at the others. “Keep your guard up, all right?” Upon receiving nods from the Trainers, the Ranger looked down at the Pokémon below her. “All right, Swamp. Let’s head over and up to Fortree. Maybe there’s something hiding in that jungle over there.”

The fin-covered head bobbed, and the Pokémon turned and started moving away from Crystal and the others.

“Well, I’d better get going, too,” Archie commented. “You guys mentioned a beach down by Slateport, right? Maybe I should have a look around down there.”

“Good luck in your research,” Crystal responded, giving Archie a half-smile.

Archie grinned and gave a thumbs-up in response, then turned and walked off the way that they had come.

As Archie disappeared from sight, Brendan rounded on Gold and demanded, “Why didn’t you tell us that Sapphire was a part of that group?!”

Gold held up his hands as a defensive measure. “Because I didn’t know. Team Magnus is kind of a huge group if they’ve got a large number of different units separated into Types. Some of them don’t even have the same uniform as what Tabitha and the others did back at the museum. I know _my_ group didn’t.”

“But, then….” May looked out over the water before looking back at Gold. “Why? Sapphire knows how bad Team Rocket is….”

Crystal frowned, her eyebrows furrowing together while her tail and ears twitched in an agitated manner – not that the others could see them. “Back in Kanto, when Team Rocket was together the first time, there was a grunt who was hypnotized into joining. Maybe they’re doing something similar here…?”

“It wouldn’t be able to work on all of them,” Gold pointed out. “There _is_ a Dark-Type.” As Crystal shuddered, Gold added, “So they couldn’t use Hypnosis on everybody, because then the Dark-Type kid would have figured out that there was something wrong and he or she would have been the one to escape and look for help.”

“And who knows what would have happened if the kid ended up finding you,” Ethan added, nodding to Crystal.

Crystal shuddered again, while Brendan and May exchanged looks.

“Crystal?” May looked at the Kanto Trainer, concerned. “Do you…have something against Dark-Types?”

Crystal jumped a little at the question, then gave a nod. “I ran into an accident with a pack of them when I was little.” She rubbed her arm. “I don’t think that I have any scars from when they attacked me, but I haven’t really wanted to look close enough in order to see if I do.”

“Which Dark-Types?” Brendan asked.

“Does it matter?” Crystal shot him a look. After a moment, her expression softened. “The point is that I don’t want to run into any other Dark Pokémon for the rest of my life if I can help it. I do know techniques that can keep them off my back—“ _Thank Rukario for teaching me Aura Sphere_ “—but I still don’t want to cross paths with any of them.”

“But there are some Dark-Types that are absolutely majestic!” May pointed out. “Like Absol! And Poocheyna are absolutely adorable little Pokémon!”

“They’re still Dark-Types.” Crystal looked down at the grass. “And they can still hurt me more than any other Pokémon that’s out there.”

Richie let out a worried noise as he moved closer to his Trainer, looking up at her with concerned red eyes.

“Something’s different about you.”

Crystal looked over at Lily, Brendan’s Linoone, and gave the Pokémon a curious frown.

“You smell different,” Lily continued. “It’s kind of like….” She sniffed again. “Like you were living with a certain Pokémon for so long that you started to smell like them.”

“Lily?” Brendan frowned at the Linoone. “What is it?”

Crystal looked down at the Linoone with a blank expression for a moment before looking at her own team. _“What do you think? Should I tell them?”_

Samuel, Richie, and Ando looked at each other with mixed expressions before looking back up at their Trainer.

“Well, they are going to be traveling with us and helping us out for a while,” Richie said carefully. “But you don’t have to tell them if you don’t want to.”

“Or you can just not say anything to the Trainers,” Samuel suggested with a rather sinister grin.

Crystal’s tail twitched a little as she considered her two Pokémon’s statements. After a moment, she let out a sigh and looked around the route that they were presently on. Seeing nothing but the small land bridge that they were standing on and water that spread out for miles around them, the Kanto Trainer took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

“I don’t want to tell so many people about what it is that I can do, but it looks like I won’t have all that much of a choice if you’re going to be helping us against Magnus,” Crystal said carefully. She looked over at Brendan and May before letting her illusion drop.

May let out a gasp and covered her mouth with her hands, eyes widening. Brendan looked like he had just seen a Ghost Pokémon stick its tongue at him and made its face contort into something horrific and unexpected.

“No way….” Brendan’s eyes moved between Crystal’s tail and ears before turning his attention to Gold, who was smirking a little as he watched their reactions. “Did you know about this?”

Gold shook his head. “Before I found out about my powers? No. I found out about Crystal after Team Magnus had brought me here and started training me so that I could control my electricity. I overheard them talking about the failed experiments and how Team Rocket had managed to make one, and I put two and two together before Ethan and I left.”

“S-so…what’s your Pokémon half?” May moved forward a little, watching Crystal’s tail curl and uncurl.

Crystal’s ear twitched as she gained a look of surprise. “You mean you can’t tell?”

“Your ears made me think of a Skitty at first, but you tail doesn’t really match that….” May frowned.

“It’s probably a Pokémon neither one of us have managed to see,” Brendan added.

Crystal paused to consider that, then gave a nod and a small smile. “Yeah. I guess you’re right about that.” The smile faded after a moment. _“I’m part Mew.”_

May’s eyes widened. “I just heard you in my head!”

“That’s a Psychic-Type technique, isn’t it?” Brendan asked in amazement. He blinked, then shook his head. “Wait – _Mew?_ As in the one Pokémon that’s said to be the ancestor for every other Pokémon in existence? Are you serious?”

Crystal nodded, gaining a hesitant expression. _“Team Rocket…they made Mewtwo – Mythos, my brother – and they had some extra Mew DNA left over that they hadn’t spliced. I was made as a kind of…side-project, I guess.”_

“Whoa.” May blinked a couple times, startled. “They just made you for fun?”

Crystal’s tail flicked at the question, and she made it a point to speak aloud. “The scientist who did it was thinking of just experimenting with DNA combination at first, but then he actually got attached to me and helped me escape. That’s…when I first ran into Dark-Types.”

“But…Team Rocket only showed up the first time what, eight years ago?” Brendan frowned.

“I’ll be nine in about….” Crystal frowned, doing some mental math. “…five days, I think.”

May gasped. “You’re younger than I am!”

“How?” Brendan asked. “You look and act like you’re fifteen or something – just like the rest of us!”

“Playing with genetics can do that, I guess.” Crystal blushed a little, her tail curling. “I know that Trainers aren’t supposed to start their journeys until they’re ten, so I tend to keep my age under wraps from most people. Professor Oak and a couple other people in Kanto know, and that’s about it back at home. And Professor Oak did let me travel around as a Trainer, so that counts for something.” She paused for a moment, her ears and tail fading from view. “I also don’t want very many people to know about what I am and what I can do, because I don’t want to get a lot of attention. Mythos can handle it because he doesn’t come out of his cave in Cerulean, but I don’t really want to do what he does.”

“Mythos?” Zuzu repeated.

“Mewtwo,” Crystal explained, nodding to the Marshtomp. She looked down at the grass again and kicked at a couple tufts of it with a foot. “He’s kind of…well, he is my older brother. And he’s kind of protective, too.”

May snorted, looking at Brendan. He sent her an irritated look in response.

“And this is why sometimes I’m glad that I don’t have siblings,” Gold commented, smirking.

**Space Break**

Professor Oak had come back in from a walk around his grounds when his phone started ringing. Putting down his coffee thermos (Daisy was a wonderful brewer), he picked up the receiver and said, “Hello? Professor Oak here.”

_::Sam! Thank Arceus you picked up!::_

Oak blinked in surprise when he heard the relief on the other end. “Michael? What happened?”

 _::We’ve been having a little trouble getting the phones connected over here for the past couple of days::_ The man on the other end explained. _::I was starting to give up hope that I’d be able to get through to you!::_

Oak frowned. “What happened over there that shut down the phones? And what about your other equipment?”

_::The equipment’s fine – it’s just the connections to the outside world that got shut down. Magnus really wanted to make sure that I couldn’t talk to you or the other professors::_

“Magnus?” That name rang a number of bells. “That name sounds familiar, but I can’t quite place it.”

_::Gold came by a couple of days ago. He and Crystal are here trying to put a stop to a group that’s popped up. They drove me out of Littleroot a couple of days ago and those two got the town back. We’ve been trying to do repairs ever since, but it’s been tough going::_

Oak’s eyes widened when he heard that, and his face instantly became grim. “You’re having problems with an organization now? And it isn’t Team Rocket?” He could still remember when that particular group had taken over the Radio Tower in Goldenrod. At least Proton and the other members of Team Rocket had been caught and arrested by the police force Blue had alerted at the time.

_::No, thank Arceus. But I have to wonder if this group is even worse than they are. Did Gold fill you in at all about what’s going on?::_

Oak frowned and scratched his head. “Maybe? I was loopy for a few days because I had been working on improving one of the PokeDex models. I vaguely remember seeing Crystal visiting and telling her to go find Blue….”

_::You remember that someone stole data from Silph Company over there in Saffron?::_

The question put Oak on the alert. “I remember that quite clearly. The thief took off with the data that was connected with some of the top-secret projects that Team Rocket was in control of – including Mewtwo.”

_And Crystal, but no one else really needs to know that._

_::Well, apparently some of that data was used to make kids with Pokémon abilities!::_

Oak spluttered. “Wh-what?!”

 _::I know! That’s pretty much what my reaction was! But then Gold showed off by releasing electricity from his fingers, and that was the end of that::_ Professor Birch paused. _::Gold said that there was one person per Type in Magnus, except for Psychic – apparently, that didn’t end up working out so well. But that still leaves 17 Types running around, if they managed to get Fairy to work. I’ve already heard that something happened in the Petalburg Woods that left a lot of Pokémon horribly poisoned, and my guess is Magnus might have had something to do with that::_

Oak paused at that, frowning out of concern. “Does anyone have any idea what it is that they’re planning? It might be something to look into if you don’t.”

 _::There are people who are looking into it now, hopefully. I’ve heard that the Champion was in Dewford when the entire population on the island disappeared for a while. He’s been on leave for a while, looking into the ancient myths we’ve got around the region. I don’t know all of the details about what happened in Dewford, but I’ve heard he’s planning on heading to other places in the region in order to have a look around at ancient murals and maybe some ruins that could be scattered around. I’ll make sure to keep my ear to the ground and get the Pokémon around here to do the same thing. You should try to get in contact with anyone you can so that they might be able to figure out something over in Kanto and Jhoto::_ Birch paused again, then laughed. _::I gotta go – I think my wife wants me to get off the phone to help with dinner::_

Oak sighed and smiled a little. “You’d better get going, then. I’ll make sure to call you and let you know if anything ends up coming up over here.”

_::Thanks, Sam. I’ll be hearing from you then!::_

Oak heard the click of the receiver on Birch’s end, and he put down the phone and let out a sigh before looking around his lab, which was still a mess after his whirlwind of tweaking and experimenting with the PokeDex. He shook his head and looked over at an open window.

“Well, Rosa, I don’t know if you’re listening in, but I’m going to need your help. There’s something going on in Hoenn, and I might just need to uncover some myths about that particular region in order to help stop another group that’s been experimenting with genetics….”


	33. City-Wide Shopping Mall

Crystal looked up in surprise at the building that was in front of them. “That’s a _city?_ It looks more like a giant facility of some kind!”

“An eight-year-old doesn’t normally use words like that,” Ethan teased.

Crystal shot the Pikachu a look. “I grow at the rate of a Pokémon. I thought you knew that already. I _am_ Level 50.”

Ethan scowled at the reminder, folding his front paws across his chest while Gold shook his head at the Pikachu.

“I think Mauville ended up having a lot of renovations done a few years ago,” Brendan commented, looking up at the large building in front of them. “Dad said it used to be a town, but then Watson ended up having a few ideas and ended up rebuilding the town to look like this. Apparently, he had some help from someone in another region.”

“Really?” Crystal looked at Brendan in surprise, her invisible ears tilting forward in interest. “Who was it?”

Brendan and May shrugged.

“We never learned his name, but he’s apparently the Electric-Type Gym Leader in Kalos,” May explained. “He was some kind of child prodigy or something like that.”

Crystal blinked. “Huh. First fruits that aren’t Berries, and now a Gym Leader who’s a prodigy. Kalos is starting to sound a lot more interesting.”

“Well, you’ll have to think about going there later,” Gold spoke up. “We should probably have a look around in order to see what’s going on around here, in case Magnus decided to camp out somewhere near here.”

“I’m going to head back to Verdanturf to see if I can get myself a Contest License!” May waved a hand in the air, smiling brightly. Combusken, Lombre, and Plusle nodded in agreement.

That said, May turned and ran off through the open doors that led into Mauville without another word, but the large grin on her face was proof enough that she was looking forward to what she was about to do.

“I think I’m going to have a look around the town,” Brendan commented. “I didn’t really spend all that much time sightseeing the last time that I was here, so maybe I’ll have a look around. That food court looked like it was a pretty good place to get some training in.” He looked over at Zuzu, Lily, and Mike – the now-named Minun – with a smirk on his face.

Mike grinned widely when Brendan looked at him, bobbing his head.

“Good luck,” Crystal said, nodding to Brendan. “I’ve heard from Blue about food courts. You could end up getting mobbed.”

“I probably won’t be, but thanks for the warning.” Brendan gave a nod, then motioned for his team to follow him into Mauville.

“I think I’m going to have a look around myself,” Gold remarked, nodding a little. “There might be a place around here where Trainers and other people gather to talk about rumors.”

“I guess I’ll go to the Gym, then,” Crystal said, nodding. “Maybe Watson’s heard or seen something going on in Mauville, since Brendan said he’s the mayor and the Gym Leader.”

“Sounds good.” Gold gave Crystal a thumbs-up, then started into the city. Crystal followed after him. “Just remember – with Magnus, they’ve got groups all over the place, so anything could end up happening around here. We’ll have to keep our eyes and ears open just in case.”

“I can only do so much with my powers,” Crystal warned. “Like I said on the way here, I can reach out mentally, but some people are more sensitive to that kind of thing than others. I’ll do my best, but I’m planning on talking to Watson first.”

“I think that’ll be enough.” Gold nodded.

The two and their Pokémon passed through the open doors into the building that encompassed Mauville city, stepping off the grass and onto a clean, tile floor.

“Wow….” Richie looked around in amazement. “So this is an entire city?”

Ando tapped the tiles. “This is rock. But also not. Strange.”

Samuel scowled a little. “Well, at least the air’s clean….”

Crystal nodded. “All right. Let’s see about finding out where the Gym is, and figure out if there’s anything going on around here.”

Crystal started moving forward, her Pokémon staying near her as she started to walk around the one long hallway that seemed to make up the entire inside of the Mauville building. Her eyes moved as they went, taking in the strange set-up that the city had.

“It looks like most of this place is shops,” Crystal murmured, frowning as she passed by a shop that had a large collection of mirrors hanging inside. “I wonder where the people manage to live…maybe on a floor above us somewhere?”

She looked up at the ceiling and cautiously expanded her mental senses in that direction, but she was unable to get past the ceiling and reach whatever it was that was above them.

Crystal sighed and shook her head. “Looks like I’m going to have to talk to people instead of just poking around like that. I wonder what else there is around here, and if there are any people we might be able to talk to.”

“Hi!”

Crystal and her Pokémon turned when they heard the clearly Pokémon-esque voice, surprise crossing Richie’s and Crystal’s faces when they caught sight of the Pokémon who was coming towards them.

“A Kirlia?” Crystal’s eyebrows shot up in surprise while her invisible ears straightened out of interest.

The Pokémon nodded, smiling. “Hi! I didn’t think there was another Trainer who had a Kirlia with them! You feel like you’re a good Trainer, too.”

Richie smiled up at Crystal. “Yeah, she definitely is.”

“Gwen, wait up!” A boy with spiky green hair and a white button-up shirt that looked a little too big for him jogged over to the group and came to a stop, putting his hands on his knees and breathing heavily. “You know I’m not quite ready for running yet!”

“Oh!” Gwen turned to the boy and ducked her head. “Sorry, Wally! I don’t know what I was thinking!”

The boy – Wally – looked up at the Kirlia and gave a tired smile. “It’s okay. You only evolved recently, so I guess you’re just getting used to your new legs.” Then he noticed Richie. “Oh! Another Kirlia!”

“His name’s Richie,” Crystal said, getting Wally’s attention. “I’m Crystal, his Trainer, and these are the other Pokémon on our team: Ando, an Anorith, and Samuel, a Shroomish.”

Wally managed to get himself to stand upright. “I’m Wally. This is Gwen, my first Pokémon.” He motioned to the Kirlia, who gave an elaborate bow, smiling.

Crystal gave a nod and a smile. “So, your Kirlia’s a girl, then?”

“Yeah.” Wally chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. “I guess yours is a guy, since it’s named Richie, right?”

“Right.” Crystal’s smile became a little bigger while Richie blushed and looked down at his skirt. “He didn’t exactly like the skirt when he evolved.”

“It’s too short,” Richie said, defending himself when Gwen started giggling. “It doesn’t feel right.”

“I live right down the route from here,” Wally said, his eyes starting to show an eager light. “There’s a group of breeders that live in between Mauville and Verdanturf, where I’m living with my uncle right now. When I showed them that I had a Ralts the first time I met them, they said that boys could evolve into a different form from the girls if they had a special kind of stone.”

“Really?” Crystal’s invisible ears stiffened up out of surprise.

Wally nodded. “Yeah. Otherwise, they’d end up evolving into Gardevoir like the girls.”

Richie jumped back, startled at Wally’s statement.

“What does a Gardevoir look like?” Crystal asked, frowning.

“They have one at the day care that they run,” Wally explained. “If you want, I could take you there so that you could have a look around and ask them about it.”

Crystal smiled, then looked over at Richie – it looked like he and Gwen were having a private conversation a short distance away so that they wouldn’t be eavesdropped on by their Trainers. Ando and Samuel were sitting nearby, the Shroomish looking rather bored. “That would be great. Then I would be able to know what to look out for.”

“You’re traveling around Hoenn, right?” Wally looked at Crystal with a curious expression. “Because you look like someone who’s traveled around a lot.”

Crystal nodded. “Yeah. I just came up from Slateport. I’m taking the Gym challenge, so I was planning on going and battling Watson sometime today.”

“Really? Me, too!” Wally put a hand on his chest. “I want to be able to grow stronger. See, I can’t breathe very well in some areas of Hoenn, and this area has the cleanest air, so I’m getting a little better. But I want to be able to get stronger instead of just relying on the air around here all the time. My uncle doesn’t think that I should go ahead and try yet, but I want to prove him wrong.”

Crystal’s ear twitched when she heard Wally say that. “Really? Well, a journey definitely would be something that could make you stronger. And it being sick is something you’re worried about, so long as you’re careful about things, you should be all right.” She paused for a moment, then added, “You know, I know someone in Kanto who went through his League Challenge completely mute.”

“Really?” Wally looked at Crystal in surprise. “How did he manage to do that?”

“Professor Oak made his PokeDex so that it could tell his Pokémon to use certain moves in battle,” Crystal explained. “The rest of the time, though, he communicated to them using hand signals. He ended up getting a voice some time later, but he still uses symbols to talk to his Pokémon sometimes if he needs an edge.”

“Who’s the Trainer?” Wally asked, looking at Crystal in awe.

“Red. You know, the Champion in Kanto who took out Team Rocket eight years ago?”

Wally’s eyes widened. “Really? He couldn’t talk?”

“For the first ten years of his life.” Crystal nodded. “I’m actually a friend of his and Blue’s – the Viridian Gym Leader, and Red’s rival.”

“Wow.” The look on Wally’s face was clearly one of amazement. “That’s so cool! So you’re from Kanto?”

“Yeah.” Crystal nodded. “I haven’t taken the League Challenge there or in Jhoto, and a friend of mine suggested I try the one here with a brand-new team. I actually left the three Pokémon I had before near a flower shop in Rustboro.” She paused. “It might be a good idea to check in on them, actually….”

“So, how many badges do you have?” Wally asked.

Crystal made a mental note to make it a point to call Professor Oak and the Flower shop later – the Kanto Professor was going to want to know about her progress so far in Hoenn – before answering Wally’s question. “Just two so far -- Roxanne’s from Rustboro and Brawly’s from Dewford. Watson’s is the next one that I’m planning on getting.”

Wally’s eyes widened a little, and his amazed expression changed as a fire started burning in his eyes. “Do you mind if I challenge you to a battle? I want to see if Gwen and I are ready for a match against Watson.”

Crystal’s eyebrows shot up at that statement. “Well, I don’t see why not. How many Pokémon do you have?”

“Just Gwen.” Wally blushed a little. “I’ve been thinking about catching another one, but there are so many Pokémon to choose from that it’s making my head spin.”

“How about we do a one-on-one, then? Gwen vs. Richie? Or do you want to go against Samuel or Ando instead?” She motioned to the two Pokémon nearby, Samuel suddenly looking interested at the idea of a match.

“Um….” Wally frowned looking between Crystal’s three Pokémon while Richie and Gwen stopped conversing and looked over at Wally and Crystal. “Just Richie sounds good. I mean, I haven’t met another Trainer with a Kirlia before now, so….”

“All right, then.” Crystal nodded, then looked over at the two Kirlia. “Did you guys hear that?”

“That we’re going to spar against each other?” Gwen asked. She smiled and started walking over to Wally.

“Gwen and I were kind of thinking of doing the same thing,” Richie added, walking over to Crystal. “We do need to get used to moving around and fighting like this, and those wild Pokémon that we ran into on the way here didn’t really give me all that much of a chance to move.”

Crystal nodded, then looked over at Wally and Gwen. “You guys ready?”

Wally and Gwen nodded, but then Wally’s eyes widened.

“Who’s going to move first?” Wally asked, looking horribly flustered. “I’d say ladies first, but both Gwen and you are girls.”

Richie partially answered the question by giving Gwen an elaborate bow of his own, sweeping out one leg behind him.

“Well, you are the ones who challenged us,” Crystal pointed out, smiling at Richie. “I think that means that you’re going to be moving first.”

Gwen hid her mouth behind her hands and giggled as Richie rose from his bow, smiling.

“Okay, then.” Wally nodded, then took a slight step back, looking down at Gwen. “Ready, Gwen?”

Gwen looked up at her Trainer and smiled brightly. “Yup!”

“I’m good to go,” Richie added, nodding.

“Okay, then.” Crystal nodded to Wally. “Go ahead.”

Wally paused for a moment, nodded, then took in a deep breath and said in a clear voice, “Disarming Voice!”

“Let’s practice your Magical Leaf,” Crystal suggested as Gwen took in a deep breath of her own.

Richie nodded. “Right." He started moving his arms in a graceful arc, then threw them to either side, causing small, leaf-like bits of energy to appear in the air around him before he pushed his hands forward suddenly. At the same time, Gwen let out a pure-sounding note, and the soundwaves traveled through the air, disrupting the path of some of the magical leaves while others kept going.

The two attacks hit at the same time, causing the two Pokémon to stumble back a couple steps.

Richie shook his head, gaining a frowning look on his face. Without Crystal saying a word, he took in a breath and released a Disarming Voice of his own, catching Gwen and Wally by surprise.

Gwen yelped as the Disarming Voice hit her, then shook her head and frowned. “Wally?”

“Confuse him,” Wally suggested.

Gwen’s expression brightened. “Oh, yeah!”

“You look like you can handle yourself,” Crystal commented to Richie, smiling. “Go ahead. I’ll give you suggestions so that you don’t end up getting stuck.”

Richie stiffened a little out of surprise, then nodded as Gwen pushed the air in front of her forward. The Confusion hit Richie, but didn’t do very much damage as he started to set up another Magical Leaf and promptly followed through with it, hitting Gwen in multiple places.

“Ow!” Gwen rubbed her arms, wincing. “That hurts a lot more than the Disarming Voice does!”

She smiled a little. “Which makes me glad that I know it, too!” Making similar motions to what Richie had done a moment ago, Gwen summoned and sent her own Magical Leaf flying at Richie, hitting Crystal’s Kirlia with enough force to send him stumbling.

Richie gritted his teeth. “I can do this. I’ve taken down Geodude without a problem; I’ll be able to do the same thing here.” He took in a breath, almost making it look like he was going to unleash another Disarming Voice, but then quickly summoned another Magical Leaf and sent it flying at Gwen, who was once again caught by surprise.

“Yah!” Gwen fell flat on her back from the force of Richie’s Magical Leaf, then let out a groan. “Ow….”

“Gwen!” Wally quickly got down on his knees and helped the Pokémon to her feet. “Are you okay?”

Gwen let out a groan and shook her head, then looked at Wally with a sad frown. “Sorry, Wally. I don’t think I can keep going.”

“It’s okay.” Wally smiled. “You did your best.”

“Yeah.” Richie nodded in agreement, stepping forward. “I think that, if both of us had moved at the same time, we’d have knocked each other out. I’m still getting used to…all of this, too.” He motioned to his short skirt, blushing.

Gwen giggled.

“That was a good match,” Crystal said, walking over. She paused when Richie held up an arm, stopping her before he started moving forward again.

“This one’s a move that I haven’t been able to practice yet,” Richie said, getting close to Wally and Gwen. “I hope this works….” He took in a breath, then released it as a pulse of energy was released from his body.

The pulse hit both Wally and Gwen, catching the two of them by surprise. Crystal’s eyebrows shot up when she felt something from the move, and she instinctively activated her Aura Sight in order to see what it was that had just happened.

“Richie, what was that move?” Crystal asked, blinking in surprise.

“I got the idea a while back,” Richie explained. “I can give people energy and make them feel better. It’s a healing pulse.”

“Healing… Heal Pulse?” Crystal’s eyes widened. “Oh, wow! I haven’t heard of that move before!”

“Heal Pulse?” Wally blinked. “Hey, wait – can you understand Pokémon? How?”

Crystal paused at the question. “It’s something that comes with being an experienced Trainer, I guess. That, and having a deep bond of friendship with your Pokémon.” She smiled. “You and Gwen are already pretty close. You might already be figuring things out by how she acts and how she says things. Plus, some Psychic-Types can talk to humans using telepathy, so maybe Gwen will be able to do that soon, too.”

“I’d kind of like to learn how to do that, too,” Richie remarked.

“I’ll see what I can do about teaching you. Maybe I should call Kaz and see if he has any pointers that could help.” Crystal smiled at Richie, who gave her an eager smile in response.

Wally stared at Crystal in awe, then ducked his head. “Well, I still lost, so….”

“Richie said it was pretty close,” Crystal pointed out. “If you and Gwen had moved at the same time that he had, they both probably would have been knocked out. You’re a good Trainer, Wally. If you keep training like you have been, and make more friends who could become a part of your team, you could really go far.”

“You think so?” Wally looked up at Crystal with wide eyes.

“Definitely.” Crystal smiled. “There are a lot of Trainers out there that used to be considered weak and ended up coming out on top. You just might be a part of that number.”

Wally’s eyes were shining with a bright eagerness now, and he gave a smile that was just as bright. “Thanks, Crystal! I hope we can meet each other at the top!”

“Crystal!”

Crystal turned her head when she heard the voice call her name, and she caught sight of a familiar figure running towards her. “Brendan? What’s going on?”

“I just ran into a couple Trainers from the Gym in the Food Court,” Brendan explained as he came to a stop near Crystal and Wally. “It sounds like Watson didn’t come in this morning, so the Gym’s been closed.”

“Really?” Crystal frowned while Wally’s shoulders sagged in disappointment. “Any idea why that is?”

“One of them mentioned that Watson had thought that there was something wrong with this place called ‘New Mauville’ yesterday. They think he went out to check out the area this morning and didn’t come back.” Brendan frowned. “One of them told me where the entrance to the area is. I’m planning on heading over to check it out and see what’s going on. I’ve already told Gold about it.”

Crystal paused, considering Brendan’s words. Meanwhile, Wally and Gwen looked between the two Trainers with looks of confusion on their faces. “All right. Can you lead us to where it is?”

Brendan nodded. “Yeah.”

Crystal gave a nod in response, then looked over at Wally. “Sorry, but I’ve gotta go.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Wally’s question caused Crystal’s ears to stiffen up in surprise.

“Help?” Brendan repeated. He hesitated, frowning. “Uh…maybe you could let Nurse Joy know? From what the Gym Trainers said, there’s a lot of wild Electric Pokémon down there. Maybe one of them hurt Watson or something, and he’s going to need medical attention.”

Wally’s eyes widened. “Right!” He quickly got to his feet, Gwen staying close to his side. “I’ll go and do that right away, then!” He started moving quickly away from Crystal and Brendan.

“We should get going, too.” Brendan looked over at Crystal. “There’s no telling what’s going on in New Mauville.”

Crystal nodded. “All right. Let’s go.”


	34. New Mauville

Brendan led Crystal out of Mauville and back to the Route that they had just been on, much to Crystal’s surprise and confusion.

“The entrance is out here somewhere?” Crystal asked in surprise. She started looking around. “Why is it that we didn’t see it when we were coming over from Slateport?”

“Because it’s out in that direction.” Brendan pointed out over the water. “Watson didn’t want the entrance where just about everybody would be able to get to it – at least, until he thought it was ready for visitors. Apparently, he decided that it was going to be shut down instead, and he had it blocked off so that most people wouldn’t be able to get inside.”

“Really?” Crystal’s eyebrows flicked upward in surprise. “Huh.”

“There you two are!”

Crystal, Brendan, and Crystal’s team turned at the sound of the familiar voice, and they all stared in surprise.

“Gold?” Crystal blinked. “How are you and Ethan standing on the water like that? Is that a surfboard under you?”

“Did you really think that I only could fly around?” Ethan smirked before giving a wink and something that looked like a salute as the surfboard underneath them released a number of sparks.

“Is….” Brendan stared with wide eyes as he stumbled over his words. “Is that Pikachu using _Surf?_ ”

“He can fly, too,” Gold offered. Turning to Crystal, he added, “I’m going over there. This New Mauville place sounds like it could be having trouble with Electric-Types, and I may be able to do something about that.”

Crystal nodded. “I’m coming, too. Electric-Types may not be my forte, but I do know how to talk to some of them.” She looked down at her team. “But, since I don’t have any that know Surf – and Ethan probably can’t handle the both of us – I’ll have to do something else in order to get over there.”

Brendan frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I’m going to need you guys to return to your PokeBalls for a minute,” Crystal said, nodding to her team. “I’ll let you out as soon as I get there, all right?”

Richie looked at Crystal in surprise. “What are you planning on doing?”

“I’m going to fly over there.”

Brendan spluttered. “Fly?!”

“Yeah.” Crystal nodded. “Mew can fly – or hover, I guess – for short distances. New Mauville is probably close enough that I would be able to handle flying over the water in order to get there. But I’m going to need you guys to get in your PokeBalls so that I won’t be weighed down too much.”

“Understood,” Ando spoke up. He promptly disappeared into his PokeBall without another word.

“I still can’t get over the fact that your Pokémon can speak our language,” Brendan remarked.

“Well, he can’t learn from other Anorith, so he kinda learned from us instead.” Crystal shrugged.

Samuel scowled, but he rather suddenly turned into a red beam of light himself before disappearing into his PokeBall. Richie looked up at Crystal with a determined gleam in his eyes before he disappeared, as well.

“All right.” Crystal took in a deep breath and let it out, relaxing her shoulders. “Ready, Gold?”

Gold gave a nod. “Yeah. You?”

Crystal gave a slight smile and a nod before she focused her Psychic energies and did a little hop up into the air, leaving the ground altogether.

Brendan gawked. “Whoa….”

Crystal giggled at Brendan’s reaction, then turned her attention to Gold and Ethan. “Okay. Let’s go.”

Gold nodded in agreement, then looked down at Ethan. “You heard her. Get this thing moving.”

“Okay, okay,” Ethan grumbled. He turned on the surfboard and faced out over the open water before hunching down a little. He leaned forward, and the surfboard under his and Gold’s feet started to slowly move forward.

Crystal shifted her position in the air, rising up a little before she shot forward, her tail’s and ears’ illusions flickering as she used them to help keep her going in the right direction.

“So, how did you manage to learn Surf on top of Fly?” Crystal asked as they traveled across the water. “I didn’t think that Electric-Types normally learned either one of those moves.”

Ethan shrugged. “I dunno. Just happened.”

“Didn’t you say something about Pokerus the last time this was brought up?” Gold asked, frowning. “I think I remember you talking about something like that.”

“That was when he just knew Fly. But to know Surf, too?” Crystal shook her head. “I don’t think Pokerus is the answer to knowing both of those moves.”

“You can figure it out later,” Ethan spoke up, sounding a little irritated. “We’ve got somewhere to be, remember?”

“And it’s right up ahead.” Gold pointed at a stretch of land that was coming up ahead of them. “That cave there is where we need to head in. That’s the entrance to New Mauville.”

Crystal nodded. “Okay then.”

The group reached the spot Gold had pointed out within moments, landing and releasing their Pokémon – or, at least, most of them. Gold let out Strike and Kal, but didn’t touch the other PokeBall that was on his belt.

Crystal noticed. “Is there a Pokémon in that one? Or are you just carrying an empty PokeBall around?”

Gold paused at the question, looking down at the Ball at his waist that he hadn’t opened. “There is a Pokémon in there, but I’m not going to let her out right now.”

“Why not?”

“Because….I don’t think I’m ready to try and calm her down yet.”

Crystal frowned at Gold’s answer, but didn’t get the chance to ask another question as he started for the cave, Strike and Kal following close behind him. She didn’t wait for very long before she started after them, Samuel, Richie, and Ando sticking close to her.

When the group entered the cave, Gold paused, looking straight ahead. Crystal, curious, moved closer to him in order to figure out what it was that had made him stop, only to jump back in surprise when multiple sparks of electricity came off his fingertips.

“There’s _a lot_ of electricity in the air around here,” Gold commented, awe in his voice. “I don’t think I’ve felt this much since the Magnet Train got set up between Kanto and Jhoto. There may be more of it here, even.”

Crystal frowned at that. “Um…but couldn’t that be possibly bad, though? I mean, Professor Oak has talked a lot about Red having to be careful with how many times Riley can use Thunder in a match….”

“It can be dangerous for most humans and some Pokémon, but I think we’ll be fine for now,” Gold responded. “Magnemite pretty much _eat_ electricity, and if there’s a lot of it in the air around here, there’s probably a large group of them deeper inside having a feast. Maybe a couple Magneton, too.” The awed expression on his face faded a little. “But this much electricity is going to be bad for Strike and Ethan. We’re going to have to get in and out so that we can get Watson before this does any permanent damage to him and his Pokémon.”

Gold started moving more quickly, Crystal following after him a moment later when his words had managed to sink in completely.

“If any of you start to feel sick or hurt for no reason, let me know,” Crystal spoke up. “I know how to use Safeguard, but it’s been a while since I last had to use it. I can throw up a Protect or a Barrier easily, but those things aren’t going to last for very long if we end up running into any Pokémon that might want to fight us for wandering into their territory.”

“Thanks. Safeguard would be a great help.” Gold gave Crystal a nod. “Especially depending on how deep in we may have to go, because it feels like the electricity is getting slowly stronger the deeper in that we go.”

“Okay. We’re definitely going to have to be careful about what’s going on, then. Hopefully, Watson isn’t going to be that far in.” Crystal’s eyebrows scrunched together at the thought. “How badly does electricity in the air affect a normal human, anyway?”

“I’ve heard that there are some Electric-Type Trainers who have gotten migraines from using Magnemite and Magneton all the time. The guy who discovered them, some Trainer named Tesla, actually lost his mind because he spent all his time around them.”

“Lost his mind?!” Crystal’s eyes widened. “I hope that hasn’t happened to Lt. Surge!”

“I think he wears equipment that keeps him protected from that kind of thing,” Gold responded, remembering the Electric-Type Gym Leader in Kanto. “Either that, or he just doesn’t use his Magneton and Magnezone a lot, since they’re the Pokémon whose electricity can do that to people.”

Crystal’s invisible ears flicked. “Then if I ever get an Electric-Type, I don’t think that I’m going to get one of those. It sounds like it’s too dangerous to keep them around.”

“Yeah.” Gold nodded in agreement. “That’s why I never decided to catch one.”

At that point, the two of them suddenly left the cave and entered a large room that had metal walls and ceiling, with what looked like engine parts scattered all over the floor. Little metal balls with magnets and screws hovered around the area in strange patterns, making humming noises.

“Magnemite,” Crystal identified, her ears flicking back.

“And Voltorb,” Gold added, looking over at one side of the room. There were a number of the red and white PokeBall-like Pokémon rolling around with dark glares on their faces. “It looks like all the electricity in the air attracted them. Maybe something about that was the reason that Watson shut this place down. But if he did, why is the electricity still running rampant?”

“We’ll probably have to look around in order to find out,” Crystal replied.

“Do you have any idea where we should start? Or do we just want to head in deeper?”

Before Gold could have had a chance to answer, the lights that were hanging from the ceiling flickered suddenly, causing the group to look up.

Gold gritted his teeth when he saw what was coming. “Great.”

Crystal frowned, her invisible tail lashing a little. “Are those—“

“Yeah. Those are Magnus guys.”

A group of figures landed on the metal floor in front of them, jumping off a group of Pokémon that looked like they had been Magnemite once. Only now, it had three eyes and looked more like some kind of flying saucer.

“And they’re the guys that they tried to put _me_ in charge of.”

As Crystal looked at Gold in surprise, the unopened PokeBall on his belt rattled a little. He quickly reached down and grabbed hold of it in order to keep it from moving around.

“Well, well, well.” One of the figures stepped forward, smirking. All of them were wearing yellow and black uniforms, taking on what looked like some kind of lighting, zigzag pattern that went down their shirts, pants, and even was on their boots. The figure who was smirking – a young man probably somewhere in his thirties – had a mountain and skull-and-crossbones overlapping on the front of his uniform. “If it isn’t the little runaway, come home again. And he’s brought a little friend with him. How nice.”

There were a number of snickers from the other Magnus members present.

“Who are you?” Crystal asked, frowning. She didn’t want to stay in here for too long if there was danger of the electricity doing bodily damage to herself and the Pokémon. She didn’t know how far Recover – or Richie’s Heal Pulse – would be able to go in order to heal the damage done by that kind of thing.

“I’m Dalton.” The man gave an elaborate bow, smirking. “Leader of the Electric-Types, since little wimpy over there didn’t want the job.”

“I didn’t want it because I didn’t want to get involved with what they were planning,” Gold retorted. “I heard Lauraina flaunting something about being able to go and use her abilities on the environment in order to make her own ‘Poison Woods’ somewhere, and I wasn’t about to just go ahead and let them do what they pleased to Hoenn. Innocent Pokémon are being hurt here!”

Dalton snorted. “Yeah, right. It’s not the Pokémon that are being hurt – they can handle anything that’s thrown at them.”

“No they can’t!” Crystal yelled in response. “I have a friend who caught a Tailow after Lauraina was kicked out of Petalburg Woods. It was badly hurt by the poison she was putting all over the place. Now it can’t go out of its ball outdoors for fear of catching a cold and getting it worse than everyone else!”

Dalton didn’t look the least bit interested in Crystal’s exclamation. He snorted. “Then that Pokémon was a weak one. He should’ve tried to find one that was strong against the poison.”

Crystal’s ears flinched back when she heard this. _These guys are as bad as Team Rocket was!_

“Where’s Watson?” Gold demanded as Strike started growling. “And what are you doing here anyway, Dalton?”

“I want to make a proper home base for my group,” Dalton replied off-handedly. “When I heard that there was a place like this at that old coot’s disposal and he wasn’t using it properly, I decided that I was going to make it into a proper base. When he noticed me and decided that he was going to try and kick me out, I decided that I might just have a use for him.” He grinned, then jabbed a thumb behind him at a pair of closed sliding doors. “He’s back there right now, working on that pretty generator.”

Crystal glanced over at Gold when she heard that, Richie looking up at her with a worried expression.

“It definitely feels like there’s a lot of electricity coming from over there,” Gold said after a moment. “If Watson’s in there, he’d better have some kind of protection or….” He looked over at Crystal. “We need to kick these guys out of here. Are you ready?”

Crystal blinked at they question, then frowned and gave a nod. “Yeah. I’m ready.”

Gold nodded in response, then turned and glared at Dalton while Crystal moved away from him a couple steps. Electricity started to spark from Gold’s fingers before he released an electric blast. “Thunderbolt!”

The bolt zigzagged through the air with a bright flash, aiming for Dalton. One of the four Magnezone that had brought them down quickly moved in front of him, though, taking the damage the attack might have caused the man.

“Ando, Samuel, see what we can do in order to help weaken those things,” Crystal said, nodding to the Anorith and Shroomish. “Richie, you back us up.”

Richie frowned. “Why?”

“Psychic and Grass moves aren’t going to do very much damage against these guys. Your best bet is to keep us going for now.”

Richie considered that for a moment, then nodded. “Okay. I’ll do that.”

“You really think that you’re going to be able to do anything against my team, kid?” Dalton looked over at Crystal, amused. “Seriously? Those Pokémon are wimps compared to my team.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Gold responded with a knowing smirk. “There’s more to Crystal than meets the eye.”

Crystal took in a breath. _“Flamethrower!”_

As the telepathic exclamation caught the Magnus members off-guard, the stream of flames that Crystal spat out went straight for the Magnezone that was hovering in front of Dalton. The floating magnet fainted moments later, falling to the floor with an echoing _clang_ with burn marks covering its body.

“I’m not just Gold’s friend,” Crystal said as she dropped the illusion around her ears and tail. While the Magnus members gawked at her, she added, “I’m the one he came to when he was looking for help.”

Dalton stared at Crystal with wide eyes of surprise, but then he shook it off. “So, that’s what they meant when they warned me about….” He blinked, then grinned. “This is gonna be fun! All right, guys! Let’s take ‘em out!”

Dalton’s cry resulted in multiple PokeBalls being thrown up in the air, releasing a large number of Magnemite and Voltorb.

“Go!” Gold barked, dashing forward.

“Ando! Samuel!” Crystal added. “Let’s go!”

“Right!” Samuel grinned widely before he started running forward. “I hope you guys like this! Leech Seed!” The Shroomish fired multiple little balls from the top of his head, and the collided with multiple Magnemite and Voltorb.

“Smack Down!” Ando added, bringing down his claws as boulders seemed to appear out of nowhere and slam into a Voltorb.

 _“Flamethrower!”_ Crystal fired at another one of the Magnezone, taking out the second Magnezone without any trouble.

 _“Confusion!”_ Kal announced, aiming his spoon at one of the Voltorb. The air around the Pokémon shimmered, and the Pokémon rolled around a little before righting itself. Glaring at the Kadabra, electricity started sparking off the Electric-Type.

“Magical Leaf!” Richie sent a horde of leaves flying at the Voltorb in front of Kal, causing the Electric-Type to roll away, knocked out.

The battle continued on in this way, turning gradually into total chaos as Crystal, Gold, and their teams continued to attack Magnus’ Voltorb, Magnemite, and Magnezone. When the wild Pokémon saw what was going on, the Voltorb started rolling over while the Magnemite circled above, absorbing excess electricity when attacks didn’t hit their targets – and if Gold didn’t get to the electricity first.

Crystal ducked in order to avoid a Thundershock that had been shot in her direction before she instinctively threw a Confusion in the direction that it had come from, hitting a wild Voltorb. The Pokémon rolled back and settled down for a moment before suddenly exploding. “This is getting way too chaotic! Gold, we need to take them all down soon!”

“I know!” Gold called back. He caught the Thundershock Crystal had avoided and absorbed it before throwing his arm wide in an arc. “Shock Wave!”

Multiple Magnus members were caught in the strengthened blast, letting out yells of pain before collapsing to the floor, sparks flying from their clothes.

“We need to get through to Watson and get him out of here!” Gold added.

Samuel rammed into a Voltorb, sending it rolling back into another one of its kind, setting off yet another explosion that sent the Shroomish skidding back. “Well, what do you want to do, huh?! We’re kinda stuck right now!”

Dalton laughed. “I have no idea what your Pokémon is saying, but I love the fact that it sounds so irritated!”

Samuel froze at that as a Magnemite floated up to him. The scowl that was on his face deepened. “You’re right. I am irritated. That I can’t do anything while I’m stuck down here!”

At that exclamation, there was a bright flash that caused some of the Pokémon near the Shroomish to pause. Crystal stopped short and looked over at the Grass-Type in surprise.

The Shoomish suddenly shot up, becoming taller and skinny while something extra seemed to grow out from between the two larger legs that had formed. Crystal suspected instantly that it was a tail, and that thought was confirmed when the light faded, revealing Samuel’s new form.

Samuel had grown larger, more muscular legs, a waving tail with what looked like a club at the end. His head was also distinguishable from the rest of his body, and had a mushroom sitting on top of it.

“Whoa!” Samuel looked down at himself, lifting the strange pair of red, hoof-like paws that he now had. “This is cool!”

A Magnemite beeped at him and started flying towards him, but Samuel moved almost instinctively and slammed out with one of his paws, his arm _stretching_ in order to hit the little ball of metal and send it flying.

“That was a Mach Punch!” Crystal exclaimed. She gained a wide grin. “Now you have something that can take down the Magnemite, Samuel! Fighting-Types are super effective against Steel-Types!”

Samuel shot his Trainer a grin. “Great! I’m looking forward to clobbering each and every one of these bozos!”

With that said, the Pokémon started running around, punching every single one of the Magnemite and sending them flying into the walls and the four burned, knocked out Magnezone.

Not to be outdone, Ando let out a strange chittering noise that made it sound like he was irritated. Then he raised his claws, and a large number of rocks appeared above him as he slammed his claws down, directing the boulders to hit multiple Voltorb at once. “Ancient Power!”

Crystal grinned at the Anorith and gave the Pokémon a thumbs-up. “Nice one!”

Dalton gritted his teeth. “What is it with these Pokémon?! They should have been able to take down all of you without a problem!”

“They might have, if we didn’t have so many Pokémon willing to back us up,” Gold responded. “That, and I think the Psychic-type over there has been keeping our energy up.”

“Good job with the Heal Pulse, Richie!” Crystal turned and grinned at the Kirlia. “I think you’ve pretty much mastered your new move!”

“Yeah!” Richie bobbed his head in agreement.

“Since they’re all down for the count, we should go and get Watson _now,_ ” Gold continued, looking over at Crystal.

“Right.” Crystal nodded, then ran for the door.

“Like you’re going to be able to get it open!” Dalton called after her. “I had those doors sealed shut! There’s no way he’s coming out until the generator works!”

Crystal didn’t stop. “Samuel, you might want to watch this! Now that you’ve got arms, you might be able to use this one, too!”

Samuel turned when he heard that, looking at his Trainer with interest. “What do you mean?”

Crystal glanced back at Samuel, grinning for a moment before looking at the doors. Focusing on her own well of energy and pulling on one that she hadn’t used in a while, Crystal’s eyes seemed to almost glow a bright blue as the energy gathered in between the palms of her hands before being thrown at the doors. “Aura Sphere!”

The blue ball of aura energy slammed into the doors, creating a large explosion that send up a cloud of dust.

When the dust cleared, it was revealed that the doors now had a large dent in them, and they were bent at such an angle that they could be torn apart.

“Samuel, could you give me a hand with this?” Crystal looked over at the newly-evolved Pokémon.

“Sure!” Samuel gave a eager smile, then started bounding over only to trip over a fainted Magnemite and get sent crashing to the ground. “Ow!”

Crystal laughed, then came over and helped the Pokémon to his feet. “Looks like you’re going to have to get used to running around now, right?”

“Yeah.” Samuel scowled, then noticed something. “Hey – I’m taller!” He looked down at the ground, then up at Crystal with a surprised expression.

“Yup!” Crystal chuckled. “That usually happens when a Pokémon evolves. It doesn’t look like you’re as tall as I am, though – I’m a little over five feet tall. Come on, let’s see if we can get those doors open.”

Samuel nodded, then followed after Crystal to the doors that she had bent horribly out of shape, and the two slipped their arms into a crack in between the doors and started to pull.

The doors were reluctant to come apart, but they eventually did do so, slowly scraping apart as Samuel and Crystal pulled at them. It didn’t take too long before they were open wide enough for a figure – a man with white hair sticking up to make a shape that may have been similar to a lightning bolt – and a Pokémon to stumble through, looking utterly exhausted.

Crystal caught the man before he could hit the ground. “Are you all right, sir?”

The man let out a groan and rubbed his head. “Other than this horrific migraine, I think I’m all right. At least the generator’s been shut off permanently so that Mauville won’t be affected by this.”

“We should head outside so that we can talk about this without getting brain damage,” Gold spoke up.

Crystal looked back at him and was about to nod in agreement when she froze in surprise. “Where did those Magnus people go? They were lying here knocked out not too long ago!”

“We can probably talk about that later,” Gold responded. “We need to get out of here first!”

“Let’s go to my Gym,” the man suggested, returning the blue and gold Pokémon had been standing tiredly next to him. “We can talk in private there – at least, after Nurse Joy has had a look at the both of you.” He nodded to Crystal and Gold. “My name is Watson. I’m the Gym Leader and mayor of Mauville. I’m guessing you two are the kids who popped up in Dewford?”

Crystal looked at Watson in surprise. “How did you—“

“Brawly called me and told me the two of you would be coming.” Watson gave a wry smile. “Don’t worry; your secret will be safe with me.” The smile faded. “But we won’t be safe here if we stay for much longer. Come on.”

 


	35. Chapter 35

Crystal looked around the room as Watson closed the door behind him. “I didn’t know that there were hidden rooms in the Gyms.”

Watson smirked. “I like to have hidden traps in my gym. When I was putting together some new ones, I found this little space. I think Gym Leaders sometimes used to like living at work.” He went and sat down at the desk that was in one of the corners of the small room. “I sleep in here sometimes when I’m here too late. Go ahead and have a seat.”

Crystal nodded, then went and sat down on the cot, while Gold sat down on a small stool that had been sitting in another corner of the room. Strike went and sat by his feet while Samuel and Richie jumped up on the cot next to Crystal.

“Now, I’ve got to say that I hadn’t been expecting you two to get here so quickly after defeating Brawly and getting his Badge,” Watson said, grinning. “But I’m glad that you did come when you did. Thanks!”

Crystal smiled, her tail curling a little as she blushed. “It wasn’t a problem, believe me. I would have rescued you if you weren’t a Gym Leader. It’s just what I do.”

Watson burst out laughing. “Good answer! Just what I’d expect from a girl like you!” He dug into one of his pockets and pulled out two small pieces of metal and held out his hand to Crystal and Gold. “Here. I know I’d normally give these to Trainers after you’ve beaten me, but I think that stopping that group of idiots from trying to do what they were doing is enough of a reason for me to give these to you.”

Crystal’s ears shot up in surprise. “Are those—“

“The Dynamo Badge.” Watson grinned. “You can still fight me if you want, but you don’t have to.”

Crystal stared in surprise at the circular Badge that was sitting on Watson’s hand, then reached out and took it. “Wow. I never thought that I’d get a Badge given to me like this….” She frowned as she closed her hand around the Badge and looked at Watson curiously. “I only thought that Badges were really handed out if the Trainer managed to impress the Gym Leader somehow. That’s how Red ended up getting Surge’s, Sabrina’s, and Erika’s, anyway.”

“I think you pretty well impressed me when you rescued me,” Watson responded, grinning as Gold took his own Badge. “Not very many people or Pokémon would be able to handle that kind of pressure from the electromagnetic waves down there. That’s the reason I had New Mauville sealed off.”

“Because of all that electricity and the problems it would cause?” Gold guessed.

Watson nodded, his grin fading. “Yes. I knew that, if Trainers found out that there were wild Pokémon down there, they would have gone and caught and trained with reckless abandon – without even realizing that they were damaging themselves and their Pokémon in the process. Even I can’t be down there for very long, and all my Trainers here in the Gym have Magnemite and Voltorb.”

“Really?” Crystal frowned. “I saw Plusle and Minun when we were coming here from Slateport, though…why don’t you use them instead?”

“They only show their true strengths when they’re put in pairs and fight against two opponents at once. Single Battles really weren’t made with Plusle and Minun in mind. So, I make do with the Magnemite, and I make sure that they don’t release as much power as the wild ones do. Keeping them in PokeBalls almost nonstop really helps.”

Gold nodded. “Because of how the Balls are built. Right.”

“So, what are you going to do now?” Richie asked. “I mean, those people are causing trouble all over region.”

Watson gave the Kirlia a blank look, then raised an eyebrow at Crystal, who translated what her Pokémon had said.

A devilish grin crossed Watson’s face. “Oh, you don’t have to worry about _that_. I made sure that the generator down there isn’t going to be making electromagnetic waves of its own anytime soon. That’s going to bring down the danger of New Mauville, but I’m still going to keep that area sealed off. And I am planning on putting up traps from my friend the Trick Master to make sure that no one’s going to be able to get down there anytime soon.”

Crystal smiled at that, and let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good. Hopefully, the Pokémon down there won’t be affected by what’s going on in the region.” She frowned. “But what about the rest of the area?”

“Hmmmm….” Watson frowned, but then his expression brightened, and he chuckled. “Oh, trust me, they wouldn’t want to come down here for any particular reason. There’s a large group of Breeders that lives between here and Verdanturf, and they usually spend their days training Pokémon – both theirs and their clients’ – so they know the strengths and weaknesses of each species incredibly well. Plus, they have strong Pokémon that they can’t exactly use on a regular basis because of how easily they could tear apart the route! If anyone from Magnus were to try and take _that_ area, they’d probably be forced to pay for the property damage in place of the Breeders!”

As Watson burst out into a loud roar of laughter, Crystal couldn’t help but look surprised. There were Trainers who had Pokémon that were _that_ strong?

“Plus, to the north of us, there’s a family of five called the Winstrates,” Watson added, recovering from his laughing fit. “They tend to train their Pokémon like no tomorrow, as well. If anything, I’d say this area is well-protected!”

“I guess,” Gold agreed, amazed. “So you’re not worried?”

“Worried?” Watson looked over at the Jhoto Trainer. “I’m probably the most worried of anyone in Mauville right now. I’m the mayor! I have to be able to protect this city to the best of my ability, and those Magnus goons are making it very hard for me to do my job. I’m thankful that you two have your heads on straight and were able to get to me without thinking that I would be just fine without any sort of help.”

“Brendan alerted us that you were missing,” Crystal spoke up. “Without him getting to us so quickly, we might never have known that you were down there until it was too late.”

“That is true.” Watson nodded. “I remember that boy. His Marshtomp completely swamped my Gym!” He burst out laughing. “I’m glad that I had a proper draining system installed, or else I would have had to close my Gym anyway! I’ll have to give him a proper thank-you gift – and you two too, really.” He snapped his fingers. “I know! Come back here tomorrow, and I’ll make sure that the two of you can learn a new move! Does that sound good?”

“A new move?” Crystal’s ears perked with interest. “It’s been a while since I learned any new moves.”

“I have been getting rusty lately,” Gold admitted, looking down at his hands. “Learning a new move would be a good idea, too.”

“Then it’s settled! Come back here tomorrow, and I’ll see about getting you two some privacy with my Manectric. He might be able to teach your Electrike something, too.” Watson nodded to Strike, who raised his head a little higher. The Gym Leader chuckled. “Max could probably teach you Fire Fang; it could be a good defense against some of those Grass-Types that are up by Winona’s place.”

“That might be a good idea,” Gold commented, nodding. He rose to his feet and stretched himself out. “Well, I think I’m going to have a proper look around the area, now that I know that Magnus isn’t going to be trying anything anytime soon. Maybe I’ll pay a visit to those Winstrates you mentioned and train for a while.”

“I’m interested in talking to the breeders,” Crystal added. “I’ve been hearing a lot about what Richie could evolve into – maybe they know something about what it is that everyone’s talking about.” She looked down at Richie and smiled, a look that the Pokémon returned.

“Have fun!” Watson replied cheerily. “And don’t be afraid to show off around here, all right? Verdanturf is a really laid-back village, and some people just want to hear tales of what’s going on in the rest of the region. Those breeders might want to battle you, too, so don’t be afraid to accept any challenges they might put in front of you!”

Crystal’s tail twitched a little at that. “I’ll challenge people, but I don’t think that I’ll show off personally. I don’t want people to know what I am.”

“Oh?” Watson raised an eyebrow. “Any why’s that?”

“Because….” Crystal paused and quickly grabbed at the thought that she had decided on a long time ago. “Because I’m not pure human, and I’m not pure Pokémon, and because of that, they might want to…experiment with me. And I’ve had enough of that to last me a lifetime.” A shudder ran through Crystal’s tail.

Watson’s expression became more somber. “I see. That can be troublesome, if you end up being seen by the wrong people. I know that the people around here aren’t going to do anything like that, however.”

“She ended up showing herself to the entire island of Dewford by accident, and they didn’t do anything like that, either,” Gold spoke up.

“I just like being cautious,” Crystal defended.

“And there’s nothing wrong with that.” Watson winked. “I know for a fact that Pokémon can discern what is in the hearts of humans better than any Trainer that I’ve ever known, but they can be closed off for a long time if they’ve run into some rather nasty events. Don’t be afraid to open up to people, all right?”

Crystal’s tail twitched a little as she thought about what Watson said for a moment. Then her ears and tail faded from sight as she said carefully, “I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks, Watson.”

Watson grinned brightly. “No problem! I’ll see the two of you tomorrow!”

**Time Break**

Despite the fact that Crystal wanted to head out and look for the Breeders right away, talking to Watson had made Crystal remember that there was one particular older, wiser man who was probably wondering how she was doing. So, after leaving Watson’s Gym, she made her way to the center square of Mauville City and entered the Pokémon Center before making a beeline to the phone booths in one corner of the lobby. Dialing his number, Crystal sat down and put the phone on speaker before settling down to wait.

It didn’t take too long for Professor Oak to appear on the screen that was attached to the phone. _::Crystal! It’s good to see you!::_

“It’s good to see you too, Professor.” Crystal smiled. “I’ve been meaning to call you, but I’ve been distracted by a few other things.”

_::So I heard. Professor Birch called me earlier today to tell me that you were traveling around with Gold and putting a stop to that Magnus group that’s popped up. You haven’t put yourself in any danger, have you?::_

Crystal blushed a little and rubbed the back of her head, causing Professor Oak to frown a little. “W-well, I _did_ get myself poisoned the first time I ran into one of them, but I managed to take care of it before the Toxic could get all the way through me.”

 _::Toxic?!::_ Professor Oak paled.

Crystal held up her hands to hold off a potential scolding from the man. “I’m all right, Professor! I managed to use Refresh and find a Pecha Berry to take care of it.” She lowered her hands. “Besides, I haven’t run into the woman who did it since then, so she hasn’t gotten a second chance to do that.”

_::Still, you should be much more careful. If you were to die from being poisoned, I think that Blaine would have the head of the Trainer who ordered that attack! You know he cares for you that much::_

“I know.” Crystal nodded. “I haven’t had the chance to call him yet, either. I’m going to have to do that.”

Professor Oak smiled wryly. _::Actually, I don’t think you need to. Blaine came by yesterday in order to help me with my study of one of the Fire-Type Starter Pokémon that were sent over here a few days ago. He’s out with the one from a region called Kalos right now. I think he’s particularly fascinated by it. Give me a minute, and I’ll go get him::_

“Okay!” Crystal grinned at Oak, who gave a nod before getting up from his seat and walking away from his screen.

It didn’t take too long for Oak to return to the screen, accompanied by a man wearing circular sunglasses and a lab coat identical to Oak’s.

The man gave a bright smile. _::Crystal! It’s good to see you!::_

“It’s good to see you, too!” Crystal responded cheerily. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you that I was going to Hoenn.”

 _::It’s all right – you needed to get moving in order to help your friend. I understand that::_ Blaine’s sunglasses twinkled. _::So, what is it that you’ve managed to get yourself involved in?::_

Crystal took in a breath. “The group over here has my data.”

The happy look on Blaine’s face vanished instantly. _::What?::_

“You remember Gold, right? The Trainer from Jhoto who I helped take down Team Rocket a while back?” At Blaine’s nod, Crystal continued, “They’d apparently made him as well as a group of other kids – one per Type, except for Psychic. Apparently, they weren’t able to make another person who could do some of the things that I can.”

Blaine let out a sigh of relief. _::Thank Arceus::_

Professor Oak looked like he didn’t want to believe what he had just heard. _::You’re saying that there are people out there with Pokémon abilities?::_

“Gold’s an Electric-Type,” Crystal confirmed, “And Silver, his rival from Jhoto, is actually a Steel-Type. I haven’t run into all of them, but from what I’ve seen so far, each one of them is a specific Pokémon that’s at least partially, if not purely, their specific Type. Silver’s part Scizor, and I met a woman who was part Crobat in Petalburg Woods – she was the one who poisoned me at the start of our fight, but I was able to get it out after I’d beaten her and she’d run off.”

Blaine reached up for his head, as though he was going to try and tear out his hair – which he wasn’t able to do, because he was already bald. _::Who could have managed to get their hands on that data? I made sure that no one was going to be able to do that, much less decode it!::_

“I don’t know who it was, but I’m guessing they’re probably a part of Team Magnus,” Crystal responded. “Gold and I are working together in order to do something about taking them out, but it’s going to take some time. Plus….” Crystal hesitated.

 _::What is it?::_ Oak asked.

“I’m taking the League challenge here on top of all of this.”

Blaine and Oak looked at Crystal with expressions of surprise.

 _::The League challenge?::_ Blaine repeated. _::Are you sure that’s a good idea?::_

“Red was able to take care of Team Rocket while he was doing it,” Crystal responded. “I guess coming here kind of turned into a challenge for myself, especially since I’m working on assembling a new team from Pokémon I’ve been finding here.”

 _::You are?::_ Oak looked interested. _::What sorts of Pokémon have you found so far?::_

“How about I show you?” Crystal smiled, then turned and motioned for her Pokémon to come from the back of the booth.

Samuel practically bounded forward as Crystal lifted Ando up onto the desk the screen was sitting on, then lifted Richie up onto her lap.

“This is my team,” Crystal said cheerily. “Samuel over there was a Grass-Type Pokémon called a Shroomish; he evolved recently, so I haven’t been able to see what the PokeDex has on him yet. Richie here is the first Pokémon that I ran into here; he’s a Psychic/Fairy-Type and used to be a short little Pokémon called a Ralts. He’s a Kirlia now. And—“

 _::Is that an Anorith?::_ Blaine asked incredulously.

Crystal blinked in surprise at Blaine’s exclamation. “Yeah. How did you know what Ando was?”

 _::I’ve been studying Fossils of Pokémon that have been extinct for years in other regions::_ Blaine explained. _::I’ve managed to find researchers who had full-body fossils of some of the Pokémon in other regions, but Anorith has actually been among the more common ones I’ve seen – that, and Kabuto, but that could be just because I happen to be living in a region that can’t seem to get enough of them. Did you manage to find one that’s been living somewhere?::_

Crystal shook her head. “There’s a group here – the Devon Corporation – that has a machine that can take the DNA in Fossils and create the Pokémon that’s inside them. Ando was the first one they made, and they ended up giving him to me. I’ve been taking care of him ever since.” She blushed a little. “Because I’ve been keeping an eye on him, he’s been speaking in our language instead of like a Pokémon.”

Crystal’s eyes widened a moment later. “Oh, yeah! That reminds me! Professor, I was wondering if there was any way to know if Anorith are connected to Mew somehow.”

Oak frowned at that. _::Anorith connected to Mew? Why do you want to know?::_

“Well, it kinda has to deal with….” Crystal motioned to the top of her head, causing one of her ears to twitch. “Ando calls me Mistress Mew sometimes, and I’m not sure why.”

Ando clacked his claws against the top of the table. “Your aura is Mew.”

Oak and Blaine started when the Anorith spoke.

 _::You weren’t kidding when you said that it could speak our language::_ Blaine noted.

Oak frowned. _::Hmmm…I’ll have to get in touch with Rosa and see if there’s anything that she might know about it, but I might not be able to. It’s been a while since I last saw her, and she hasn’t come around the lab as of late. It could be because of all the new Pokémon that are coming in, but I don’t think that’s entirely the case. I’ll see what I can find, though::_

 _::The same goes for me::_ Blaine added. He grinned. _::I think I’ll get in touch with Stone, too, and see if he can get me one of those machines. I’d like to be able to see what the Kanto Fossil Pokémon look like when they’ve been revived::_ The Gym Leader gained a thoughtful expression. _::I wonder if Brock would be willing to help me with that….::_

Oak looked at his old friend with an amused expression, then let out a sigh and shook her head before looking back at Crystal. _::So, how well have you managed to do with your League Challenge so far?::_

“Three Badges,” Crystal responded. “I beat a Rock-Type Gym with Samuel, and a Fighting-Type one with Richie – he was the first one on my team to evolve, actually. And just today, I got a Badge from the Electric-Type Gym Leader because Gold and I managed to impress him without having to fight him.”

_::Really? That’s pretty good::_

A loud crash suddenly resounded in the background, causing both Blaine and Oak to flinch and Crystal to jump.

“What was that?” Crystal asked.

 _::That would be the Chestnaught that was sent to us by a Breeder in Kalos::_ Oak replied, rubbing his temples. _::I’ve been trying to study its armor, but it’s a rather fidgety Pokémon::_

 _::We’d better get going before it destroys anything::_ Blaine added. He gave Crystal a friendly smile. _::It was good to see you again, kid. Let me know if you decide to pick up a Fire-Type, all right? I can give you all the good strategies::_

Crystal laughed. “All right. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Blaine grinned and looked like he was about to say something else, but then another crash resounded from somewhere in the lab.

“I won’t keep you guys,” Crystal promised. “I’ll make sure to call you later, all right?”

 _::Sounds good::_ Blaine gave a nod. _::Talk to you then, kiddo::_

And with that, Blaine reached over to the screen on his end and disconnected the call.

 


	36. Chapter 36

Crystal didn’t know what it was that she was expecting when she left Mauville and started towards Verdanturf.

“Oh, wow.” Crystal took in a deep breath and looked down the path with wide eyes of amazement. “The air here…it feels so pure. It feels almost like the air on the other side of the world.”

“The other side of the world?” Samuel repeated in confusion.

Crystal looked over at her newly-evolved Pokémon and smiled. “Yeah. There’s an entire half of the world that humans can’t go to. Pokémon live there instead, and they do all sorts of incredible things with these weird items! They can’t even evolve on their own, either – they have to go to specific spots in order to do that.”

Samuel frowned. “You mean, if I lived over there, I wouldn’t have been able to evolve into this in the middle of a fight?” He lifted one of his hoof-like paws a little.

Crystal nodded, and she jolted a moment later. “Oh, yeah! That’s right – I still haven’t checked what the PokeDex says about your evolved form yet!” She quickly scrambled into her backpack and pulled out the device in question.

_“Breloom, the Mushroom Pokémon, and the evolved form of Shroomish. These Pokémon are known to live in humid climates. It closes in on its foe with light and sprightly footwork, then throws punches with its stretchy arms. Its technique is equal to that of pro boxers. It also releases spores from the cap on its head, and its tail has seeds on it that are made of toxic spores. Inhaling or eating these spores will hamper and poison its foe. This Pokémon is a Grass and Fighting-Type.”_

Crystal blinked, lowering the PokeDex. “Grass and Fighting, huh?” She smiled a little. “That’ll definitely be a big help.”

Samuel grinned and started hopping from one foot to the other. “I can’t wait to see what it is I can do! If those Magnus guys end up running into us, they’re definitely going to regret trying to cross me!” His grin widened.

Samuel’s foot suddenly hit something as he continued prancing about, and the Breloom fell over on his face. The Pokémon tried to get to his feet, but he wasn’t able to get very far.

“We’re definitely going to have to work on your balance before you can do any fighting,” Crystal commented. She started forward in order to help her Pokémon up.

“Miss! I wouldn’t try to do that if I were you!”

Crystal stopped short when she heard the voice, and she looked up in surprise to see a young man wearing a bright red apron and matching bandanna on top of his head.

“Why not?” Crystal frowned.

“Some Breloom can instinctively release spores if they come in contact with someone,” the man replied, coming over. “You could get poisoned.”

Crystal’s invisible ears shot up in surprise. “Really? That didn’t happen earlier today. He tripped not too long after he evolved, and I helped him up then.”

“That’s why I only said some Breloom,” the man replied. “I’ve found that some other ones have the ability to heal themselves when they’re poisoned, but that’s actually a pretty small number.” He pulled a pair of gloves out from one of his pants pockets and pulled them on before reaching down and helping Samuel to his feet. “My name’s Dan, by the way. I’m a Breeder.”

“A Breeder?” Crystal’s tail stiffened upward a little. “That means you know about how Pokémon can evolve then, right?”

“Depends on which Pokémon.” Dan chuckled. “I’m an expert in Grass and Poison Pokémon, myself. I actually have a couple Breloom on my own personal team, because they’re such adept fighters.”

“Do you have any advice for us, then?” Crystal motioned between herself and Samuel. “Samuel evolved earlier today, and he’s gotten somewhat used to walking, but he can’t exactly get himself back on his feet if he falls over.”

Dan considered Crystal’s statement for a moment. “Well, my suggestion is to have him work with his arms a lot.”

“My arms?” Samuel looked down at his paws. “These short things?”

Dan frowned, cocking his head to one side before sighing and shaking his head. “I almost had it that time.” He let out a sigh and looked at Samuel. “Despite what it looks like, those arms of yours actually have a lot of strength to them. They basically work like rubber bands that some Trainers might have around to hold things together – they can stretch a good distance, then snap back. If you put enough force into them, then you’ll be able to cause a lot of damage.”

Samuel perked up at that. “Really?”

Dan nodded, then turned to look at Crystal. “Like I said, I have a couple Breloom of my own. I can have them work with yours for a while so that he can get used to moving around.”

“That would be great, thanks.” Crystal smiled out of relief, then remembered something else. “Oh, yeah! I was told a while back that one of my Pokémon could evolve in two different ways, and I wanted to know your opinion on which one he should end up going for.”

Dan blinked at the statement. “Well, I don’t know if I’ll be all that much help, but there are other Breeders around. I can probably point you in the right direction of the person you’re looking for.”

“Thanks. I was wondering if I could know more about the Pokémon Kirlia and the two forms they can evolve into. I wanted to know so that I could figure out which one Richie should go for.” Crystal motioned to the mentioned Pokémon, who looked up at Dan with a curious look on his face.

“A Kirlia?” Dan looked down at the Pokémon in surprise. “This is the second Kirlia I’ve seen in a while – there’s a kid around here who has one. His name’s Wally.”

“I actually ran into him earlier today,” Crystal replied. “He’s nice.”

“Yeah. It’s too bad about the main reason he got sent here from Petalburg, though.” Dan shook his head as he made a _tsking_ noise. “Well, if you’re looking for our expert on Psychic and Fairy-Types, I think she’s working in the Day Care today with Gran and Gramps. I was thinking about heading over there for your Breloom’s sake anyway, so we can take care of your Kirlia question while we’re there.”

Crystal nodded. “Sounds good. So, where’s the Day Care?”

“It’s not all that far from here. Come on, I’ll show you.”

The Day Care wasn’t just a building, like it was in Kanto. Crystal found herself amazed at the fact that there was a large stretch of land going off in a number of directions behind the house and a picket fence, and that there were terrains of all kinds.

“Wow. You guys really went all out,” Crystal said, amazed.

“Well, we tend to accommodate Pokémon from all sorts of places, and making them comfortable while their Trainers are away is very important to us.” Dan opened the door to the small, house-like building. “After you.”

Crystal nodded in thanks, then stepped inside, her Pokémon at her heels.

“Good afternoon,” the old woman behind the counter greeted. “You look like a new face around here.”

“I am.” Crystal nodded. “I’m Crystal.”

“Call me Gran. Everyone does.” Gran smiled. “Is there anything we can do for you?”

“I’ve already got it covered, Gran,” Dan replied, stepping in. “Her Breloom’s gonna get a little strengthening work done on his arms, and she wanted to know a few things about the Ralts line from Lydia. She’s still back there, right?”

“Lydia?” Gran frowned. “I think she might be. If she isn’t working with the Pokémon that have been left here, then she might be out on the Route, training the Pokémon that have been left at the Day Care permanently.”

“People do that?” Crystal asked in surprise.

“Some do, yes.” Gran nodded. “There are Pokémon that have been abused previously by Trainers, and they’ve been brought here by the police or friends of the Trainers who would rather see the Pokémon more well-cared for. We accept all kinds of Pokémon with open arms as a rule, and we also give out Pokémon to Trainers if they’re looking to help us heal the hearts of some of the Pokémon we’ve taken in.”

“Sometimes, we act more like a shelter and an adoption center instead of a day care,” Dan added. “Not that we mind it. It’s just that there are some Trainers out there that really shouldn’t be allowed to have Pokémon.”

Crystal nodded. “Yeah. I understand that completely.” She frowned slightly. “Have you heard things about the other half of the world?”

“You mean the half that’s been left alone by humans?” Gran asked. “I’ve heard some things about that place, yes.”

“Some Pokémon from there travel over here sometimes – mostly to see humans, I think, because we don’t live on their half of the world. Maybe you could somehow make this place open to them, too – they form teams of their own sometimes, and maybe the Pokémon you have up for adoption would be willing to join them.” Crystal shrugged. “Just a thought.”

“How do you know about that?” Dan asked, blinking in surprise. “I mean, that _does_ happen sometimes, I think, but I haven’t heard of a Trainer suggesting it before.”

Crystal froze, feeling like she wanted to slap herself because she had just let something slip. Quickly figuring out what it was that she could say, she stammered, “I can understand Pokémon, and I’ve heard them talking about teams sometimes.”

“You can understand Pokémon?” Dan repeated. “I have a hard time doing that with even Grass and Poison-Types, and I’m older than you are!”

“Some Trainers are prodigies, Daniel,” Gran pointed out. “I shouldn’t say that I’m surprised, but with a team comprised of those Pokémon, it doesn’t look like you’ve been traveling for very long.”

“I live near Professor Oak’s lab in Kanto, and I like to go over there sometimes and help him out.” Which was true – Crystal did help out whenever she was in the area. “I guess I spent so much time there, I started to understand what the Pokémon were saying.”

Crystal’s invisible ears twitched at the blatant lie. She was glad that they were kept hidden by her illusion.

“Oh? You know Professor Oak?” Gran seemed surprised, then smiled. “Is he doing well?”

“I called him before I got here, actually.” Crystal chuckled. “He said he was studying the different Pokémon most Trainers are getting as Starters in the different regions. He also said one called a Chestnaught was causing him some problems.”

“Glad to hear it.” Gran gave a nod. “So, training for your Breloom and information on Kirlia is all you’re asking for today?”

Crystal nodded. “Yeah.”

“All right, then. Dan, go ahead and tell Crystal the rules that we have set up for things like this; I’ll go ahead and see if Lydia is hiding on the grounds somewhere.” Gran turned and walked through a doorway that was behind the counter, stepping out the other side of the building and onto what Crystal guessed was the land that they owned.

Dan took in a breath. “All right. In the past, we used to let Trainers into the Day Care area to have them work with us as we trained their Pokémon, but we ended up having a few incidents involving other people’s Pokémon getting stolen by a few rather greedy Trainers. Ever since then, we’ve taken to letting the Pokémon interact on their own without us really keeping an eye on them. So your Breloom is going to be working with my Breloom for probably about an hour or so in order to be able to get a few basic exercises for strengthening his arms memorized. You can keep his PokeBall on you – just remember that you’re going to need to come back here in order to get him.”

Crystal nodded. “Okay. That makes sense – Pokémon do learn best when they’re working with other Pokémon, right?”

“Exactly.” Dan grinned, then looked over at Samuel. “So, are you ready to do a little training, buddy?”

Samuel frowned a little. “Well, I’d like to, but….” He looked over at Crystal.

“It’ll be okay,” Crystal encouraged. “Besides, you’re going to need this if you’re going to be able to get up on your own if you end up tripping, remember? I’ll stay nearby on the route, all right?”

Samuel considered that, then nodded. “Yeah. You’re right.” He looked over at Dan with a determined expression.

Dan smiled and nodded. “My Breloom are probably in the woods right now. It’ll take a little bit to get to them, so we should get going now.” Turning to look at Crystal, he added, “Just to let you know, Day Care’s aren’t exactly free. Gran’s gonna give you a bill when you get back to pick up your Pokémon.”

Crystal nodded. “Thanks for the warning. I think I’ve got enough to pay that.”

“Kay.” Dan gave Crystal another nod, then moved to the counter and jumped over it before pushing a hidden door open. “Come on, buddy. We don’t have all day.”

“My name is Samuel,” Samuel responded, starting after the Breeder. “And I’m not your buddy.”

Dan’s expression brightened, and he burst out laughing. “I actually understood you that time!” He grinned at Samuel, then motioned for the Pokémon to follow him as he kept talking. “So you’re name’s Samuel, huh? That’s pretty cool.”

“Crystal thought it up,” Samuel responded, shrugging as he disappeared.

Crystal smiled as the Pokémon disappeared, then turned and looked at Richie and Ando. “Okay. Now we can see what we can do in order to figure out what it is that you can evolve into, Richie.”

Richie nodded in agreement, smiling eagerly. “Yeah.”

“I saw Dan walking off with your Breloom, and I was worried that you had already left.”

Crystal turned her head and caught sight of Gran coming back through the door. “I wanted to wait until you came back. You did say that you were looking for someone who could help me know more about Kirlia, right?”

Gran nodded. “That is right, I suppose. Lydia isn’t on the grounds today. She must be out on the route training with some of the Pokémon that we keep here. You’ll usually find her near one of the ponds that are on the Route.”

“All right.” Crystal nodded. “Thanks for the tip.”

“It was no problem. Don’t forget to come back in an hour for your Breloom, now.”

“I won’t forget,” Crystal promised, smiling. “Samuel’s an important part of my team, and a friend. I wouldn’t want to leave him behind.”

“Of course.”

Crystal stepped out of the Day Care building with Ando and Richie, making sure the Anorith was outside before closing the door behind her. That done, she looked around the route for a moment. “Okay…now to find that Breeder.”

“That lady said she was by a pond, right?” Richie asked.

“Yeah. So all we have to do is look for one and see if there’s a Breeder nearby.”

“Maybe it’s her?” Richie pointed farther down the Route. “She’s wearing an apron like Dan is.”

Crystal followed Richie’s gaze and caught sight of a woman with dark hair held up by a red bandanna. There were six small Pokémon playing around her, splashing in the water and looking like they were really enjoying themselves.

“Maybe.” Crystal looked down at the Kirlia and Anorith. “Let’s go over there and find out.”

Richie nodded in agreement, then started forwards, Crystal and Ando keeping close.

“Excuse me?” Crystal raised a hand, getting the woman’s attention. “Are you Lydia?”

The woman blinked at the question. “Yes, that’s me. And you are?”

“Crystal.” Crystal smiled a little. “I was wondering if you’d be able to give me some help.”

Lydia frowned, then looked down at the six Pokémon that had stopped playing at Crystal’s approach. The Goldeen that was in the water disappeared under the surface of the pond, only to come up a little farther out, while the Wingull took to the sky and circled around above their heads. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to right now. I wanted to take these Pokémon out to play for a while, and none of them are really ready to be doing any battling…”

“I wasn’t looking for a battle.” Crystal shook her head. “I was only looking for some advice on a Pokémon.”

“Oh?” Lydia perked up. “What kind of advice?”

“Well, I have a Kirlia on my team, and—“

Lydia let out a cooing noise and instantly turned to look at Richie. “Oh my goodness! You have a Kirlia, too? They’re really rare!”

“So I’ve been told.” Crystal rubbed the back of her head, smiling nervously as Lydia came over to have a closer look at Richie. “Richie evolved recently, and we heard a couple days ago that he could evolve into two different ways. Dan said that you were the expert in this kind of thing, so he suggested I come and ask you about it.”

“Hmmm…..” Lydia got into a crouch in front of Richie, who looked at her with wide eyes as she looked him over, but didn’t reach out and grab him. “Well, he certainly looks healthy and strong. I’m guessing you leave him out of his PokeBall often?”

“Yeah. I like to let all of my Pokémon stay out if they want to.” Crystal looked down at Ando, who blinked up at her. “I like to be able to talk to them, and it makes sure that I’m prepared in case someone wants to come up and give me a challenge – I can ask them if they want to be the ones to take the challenge or not.”

“It’s a good policy to have.” Lydia smiled up at Crystal. “It makes me happy to see healthy Pokémon like this – especially Pokémon like Kirlia. Because they’re so sensitive to people’s emotions, they can get sick easily if their Trainer is feeling bad. Happy feelings and traveling around does strengthen them some, but the find a lot of strength in the bonds they share with their Trainers.” Lydia rose to her feet, brushing off her knees. “So, you wanted to talk to me about their evolutionary line? Is that right?”

“Yeah.” Crystal nodded. “What do you know about it?”

“Well, you’re right, for one – Kirlia can evolve into two different Pokémon, but only the male ones have access to both. Since your Kirlia is male, he’s able to evolve into either one or the other, but it’s probably going to be up to you whether he does or not.” Lydia slipped a PokeBall out from under her apron and tossed it. “This is what they would evolve into if you didn’t end up doing anything.”

The PokeBall burst open, letting out a Pokémon with a green, helmet-like shape on top of its head, calm red eyes, and what almost looked like a flowing white dress that swished across the ground.

The Pokémon turned and looked at Crystal and blinked for a moment before bowing. _”Greetings.”_

Crystal blinked in surprise at the telepathic contact. “Hi. Wow, you’re a beautiful Pokémon.”

The Pokémon gave a smile in response. _“My name is Gracia. I am a Gardevoir.”_

“Gardevoir…wow.”

Gracia smiled at the obvious amazement that Crystal was showing. _“You look like a Trainer. Are you here for a match?”_

Crystal shook her head. “No. I was looking for information, actually. One of my Pokémon is a Kirlia, and I’d heard that he could evolve into two different Pokémon.”

Understanding flashed through Gracia’s eyes. _“Ah. It is wise to ask before you decide.”_ She looked over and caught sight of Richie. _“This Kirlia is a part of your team, then?”_

Crystal nodded. “Yeah.” She looked down at Richie and motioned for him to come forward a little.

Richie, who had been looking at Gracia in amazement, took a few steps forward. “H-hi. I’m Richie.”

Gracia gave a smile and a nod in response. _“It’s nice to meet you, Richie. How long have you been a Kirlia?”_

“A couple days.” Richie looked down at his skirt and blushed. “I’m…not really used to this.”

Crystal chuckled while Lydia smiled at Richie’s blushing expression.

 _“I suppose it is a little strange, compared to what you were before,”_ Gracia commented. _“Tell me – is there anything that you would want to be able to do if you were to reach your final form?”_

“Help Crystal.”

Crystal was so surprised at how quickly Richie had answered the question that she stiffened up out of surprise.

Gracia blinked at the answer, looking a little surprised herself, before looking over at Lydia. _“This one would be far better as a Gallade, I think.”_

Lydia blinked at that before nodding, smiling a little. “All right.”

“Gallade?” Crystal frowned. “Is that the other possible evolution for Kirlia?”

“Yeah.” Lydia looked over at Crystal. “They’re Psychic and Fighting-Type Pokémon, and they’re known for being very chivalrous, and will defend their Trainers and help them to the very end. Only male Kirlia can evolve into them, like I said before, but you’re going to need a specific item in order to make that happen.”

“What kind of an item?”

“It’s called a Dawn Stone, and they’re very hard to find. Probably the best way to look for one is if you went up north to Fallarbor and talked to Professor Cozmo there. I’ve heard that he collects some rare stones that can be found in and around Mt. Chimney. Maybe he has one or two that he would be willing to spare.”

Crystal nodded. “All right. I’ll make sure to head up there and have a look around. Thanks for the tip.”

“No problem.” Lydia smiled. “If you need any more advice on Fairy or Psychic-Types, don’t be afraid to ask.”

“Actually, I was kind of wondering something else….” Crystal frowned. “There aren’t any Fairy-Types in Kanto – at least, not that I know of – and I hadn’t been expecting that Richie was part-Fairy, too…could you tell me more about them?”

“Sure! I’d be more than happy to!” Lydia’s smile seemed to become even more bright and eager. “I should probably tell you how they were discovered first. See, there’s this region called Kalos….”


	37. Chapter 37

“After hearing everything that Lydia told me, I think that I want to go to Kalos next,” Crystal remarked as she and her team walked down the route towards Verdanturf. “There’s just something about that region that makes it sound like a really cool place to be.”

“Yeah,” Richie agreed, nodding. “It must be really beautiful.”

Samuel snorted, then went back to stretching his arms out in different directions. “Is that all you look for when you think about going to different regions?”

“No.” Crystal looked at the Breloom. “I think about what kinds of Pokémon might be found there, too. And Lydia said that Fairy-Types can be found there pretty easily. I know that Richie is part Fairy right now, but I’m kind of curious about what pure Fairy-Types might look like.”

Samuel frowned at that. “Uh huh.”

“There might be some other Pokémon of different Types that might be good to get to know, too,” Crystal added. “Blaine is probably expecting me to make friends with at least one Fire-Type that isn’t his. Maybe Kalos will have one that might want to be mine.”

It didn’t take too long before the route reached its end, and Crystal stepped into a small circle of buildings that were mostly houses. There was a sign in the center of the circle that said “Verdanturf” in simple lettering.

“Wow, this is a small town,” Crystal remarked, looking around. “I think it’s only a little bit bigger than Pallet Town is, but it feels so much like home. Wow….”

“Hello! I haven’t seen you around here before.”

Crystal turned and blinked when she caught sight of a young woman with dark red hair wearing a green dress. “Hi. I’m traveling around the region for the League Challenge, actually. I came up from Slateport just this morning and got a Badge from Watson not too long ago. I’m just having a look around before I decide to keep going.” Crystal walked over and held out a hand. “I’m Crystal.”

The woman accepted Crystal’s hand and shook it. “I’m Wanda. You mentioned Pallet Town a little while ago. Are you from Kanto?”

Crystal nodded. “Yeah. I came from there with a friend of mine.”

“You traveled pretty far, then. And even with everything that’s going on in our region right now.” Wanda’s eyes trailed, and she caught sight of Richie. “Oh! You have a Kirlia, too? My cousin from Petalburg has one. He had gone to Mauville earlier today and said that he met someone with a Kirlia….” Wanda’s voice trailed off, and she looked at Crystal curiously. “You wouldn’t happen to have met someone named Wally earlier, would you?”

“Wally?” Crystal’s invisible ears twitched in surprise. “Yeah, I met him earlier. He’s nearly beat me and Richie, actually, but Richie did manage to get a move in before Gwen could.”

Wanda smiled. “Wally’s been working on training with his Pokémon almost non-stop. To hear that he actually almost beat someone really came as a surprise for us, especially considering what it is that he has to deal with.”

“He did mention something about coming here because the air is better,” Crystal admitted, “but he didn’t say why.”

Wanda’s expression softened. “It’s his burden to carry. He doesn’t want new friends to worry about what it is that he has to deal with, and if it’s at all contagious – which it isn’t.”

Crystal got the feeling that the last part was added in order to try and reassure her. “What is it?”

“Wally is just very prove to getting sick easily,” Wanda admitted. “I think it started when he was really young, and the illness he caught when he was that small has continued to affect him. He has had a few panic attacks, but Gwen has been a big help in calming him down every time he has one.”

“Panic attacks?” Crystal repeated in surprise. “You mean something affected his mind?”

“We think that’s what happened.” Wanda nodded.

“Huh….” Crystal frowned. “Well, he didn’t have a panic attack when he fought against me….”

“He used to, if he faced against a strong opponent. He’s said that he’s gotten stronger, but….”

“Wanda!”

Crystal and Wanda turned when they heard the voice, and they caught sight of a familiar green-haired boy with a Kirlia.

“Crystal?” Wally came to a stop, blinking in surprise. “I thought you were going to challenge Watson after you found him.”

“There was a problem with the area that he was in, so we gave him some help. Because we caught him by surprise like that and gave him a lot of help, he gave me a Badge in exchange.”

“Really? Just because you helped him?” Wally looked surprised. “I didn’t think that Gym Leaders did things like that.”

“Some do. You just have to impress them enough.” Crystal smiled brightly. “That happened with a friend of mine, actually. He got Badges from two Gym Leaders because he impressed them enough.”

“Wow.” Wally smiled. “Maybe I should try doing something like that. Then I wouldn’t have to fight as much and put any Pokémon friends I find in danger.”

“Yeah.” Gwen nodded in agreement.

Crystal smiled in agreement. “It might take a lot to impress a Gym Leader, or maybe just a little. But either way, it’s still possible to impress them if you try hard enough.”

Wally nodded. “Okay. I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks, Crystal!”

Crystal nodded in response. “It was no problem. But you shouldn’t be afraid of fighting, either.”

Wally’s smile wavered a little. “Well, I know that I shouldn’t be afraid of it, but I’m still worried about my team getting hurt. I don’t really like it when I see Pokémon fighting….”

Crystal frowned a little at that. “You know, back in Kanto, when I first became an official Trainer and was allowed to travel around on my own, I didn’t really want to get into fights, either. I was always worrying about my Pokémon and if he was going to get badly hurt. But then…one of my brothers told me something. He said that Pokémon in the wild fight, too, because that’s really the only way that they can get stronger. They see evolution as a rite of passage, too, because it means they’ve gotten old enough and strong enough to be able to handle the world and a lot of things that get thrown at them.”

“Really?” Wally blinked in surprise. “I knew that Pokémon can come and challenge you when you’re walking between routes, but I didn’t think that they fought each other as well as Trainers.”

“Well, they have to get strong enough in order to get the attention of some Trainers. I don’t think that Pokémon want to just sit around and wait for a Trainer to come along and make them strong – they want to get the Trainer’s attention. The younger ones can go for Trainers who are just beginning, but the older ones need to be able to prove themselves if they want to travel with stronger Trainers.”

“Huh….” Wally frowned. “I guess I’ll have to think about that.”

“Wanda told me that you get panic attacks sometimes,” Crystal added, getting Wally to look at her in surprise. “I have a few friends who might be able to help, but I’d have to find out if they were willing first. If they are, would you be willing to let them have a look at you and see if there’s anything they can do?”

Wally’s and Wanda’s eyes widened, and the two of them looked at each other.

“You’d do that?” Wally asked in shock.

“This feels a little sudden,” Wanda noted. “And you only just met each other today, didn’t you? Why are you suggesting this?”

Crystal blushed and ducked her head. “Well, I like to be able to help people wherever I go. If Wally needs help, I’m more than willing to see if there’s anything I or my friends might be able to do about it. I might be a little hard to get into contact with some of them, but they might still be willing to give a hand.”

“We’ll have to ask my uncle and Wally’s parents to see if they’re all right with it,” Wanda responded, frowning a little. “They probably won’t like it if I tell them a strange Trainer from another region said she could offer some help….”

“Well, I’m close friends with Champion Red and Professor Oak.” Crystal rubbed the back of her head. “If that helps you at all. I don’t know where Red disappeared to over a year ago, but….”

Wanda frowned. “I’ll have to ask about it, but thanks for giving us a suggestion.”

Crystal was about to respond to Wanda’s statement, only for someone to suddenly ram into her.

“Crystal!” May let out a happy squeal. “Did you get the Badge from Watson?”

“Yeah, I did.” Crystal blinked in confusion and surprise. “Uh…what are you doing, May?”

“Well, I got my Contest Pass, but I wasn’t able to enter into any contests today because they were already done. I’ll be able to enter one tomorrow, though!” May grinned brightly, then noticed Wally and Wanda. “Oh? Who are these guys?”

“This is Wanda and her cousin, Wally.” Crystal nodded to the both of them. “They live around here.”

“Oh! Hi!” May turned and looked over at the two of them. “I’m May! I’m hoping to become a Coordinator!”

“H-hi,” Wally greeted, looking a little thrown off by May’s eager, bouncy attitude. “Um…good luck?”

“Thanks!” May turned and looked at Crystal. “Hey – do you think you could come tomorrow and watch one of the contests with me? I want to see what it is that they do around here and if I’ll be able to come up with a good strategy for my Pokémon!”

“Uh….” Crystal blinked, then shook her head. “Sorry; Watson wanted to meet with me tomorrow so that he could show me something. Maybe some other time.”

“Oh.” May’s shoulders sagged in disappointment, but then her expression brightened. “The next time we meet in a town, I’m definitely going to take you to the nearest Contest!”

“I’ll look forward to it when I’m not so busy,” Crystal replied, smiling a little.

“Crystal, it’s getting kinda late,” Richie spoke up suddenly pointing upward.

Crystal looked up herself, and noticed with surprise that the sun was starting to set. “Oh, wow. Time sure goes by fast. I’d better head back to Mauville’s Pokémon Center before it gets dark.”

“There’s one here,” Wally spoke up. He pointed over to a familiar red building, which was right next to what looked like a tall cliff face. “You could stay there after having dinner at my uncle’s house.”

“Wally!” Wanda looked at him in surprise. “Inviting them on such short notice?”

“Well, Crystal’s my friend,” Wally responded. “I want to be nice.”

Crystal blinked in surprise while May watched with a blank expression as Wanda shook her head.

“Wow. Wait until Mom and Dad hear about this,” Wanda commented. “You making friends with two girls who aren’t from this area of the region.” She looked over at May and Crystal. “You’re more than welcome to come by and eat, I guess. Just don’t be surprised if Mom and Dad don’t have enough room at the table.”

Crystal smiled in response. “I don’t mind. Lead the way.”


	38. Chapter 38

The next morning, Crystal woke up in the Pokémon Center in Verdenturf feeling refreshed and ready to take on the day. She looked around the room, smiling as she looked at each of her Pokémon in turn: Samuel, leaning against the wall next to the door, head bowed as he slept; Ando, lying in the middle of the room where he had stopped moving the night before; Richie, lying curled up at the foot of the bed and looking like the most adorable thing that Crystal had ever seen.

Crystal let out a content sigh and smiled at all of her sleeping Pokémon before she remembered that there was something that she had planned on doing today at Watson’s Gym. Instantly realizing that she definitely didn’t want to be late, Crystal carefully started to slip out from under the covers of the bed and grabbed a few things before disappearing into the bathroom to take a shower.

When Crystal came back out, her hair, ears, and tail still damp, her Pokémon were up and sitting around waiting for her.

Richie looked over in her direction, and he gave a smile. “Morning!”

“Good morning,” Crystal replied cheerily. “You guys sleep well?”

While Richie nodded, Samuel frowned.

“I’m going to have to find a different way to sleep,” the Breloom commented. He rolled his neck and shoulders around before adding, “Sleeping upright just doesn’t feel right for me.”

Crystal nodded. “We’ll make sure to figure something out. If you need to take a nap or anything to catch up on sleep, you can do it this morning still, if you feel like it. I’m going to be working with Watson and his Pokémon for a while.”

“Why is that?” Richie cocked his head to one side.

“Because he said that one of his Pokémon could teach me a new move, and I’d kind of like to add another Electric-Type attack to what I already know.” Crystal paused, then added, “I do have Thundershock, but that move isn’t going to do very much if I end up facing against stronger opponents. It would be good to have something that could be at least a little bit stronger than that.”

“Oh.” Richie nodded in understanding.

“So, let’s go and see what move he’s going to try and teach me.” Crystal picked up her backpack and threw it over one shoulder before pausing when she caught sight of herself in the mirror.

Crystal’s outfit had changed a little – mostly because she had found some clothes that she had felt like buying. Now, she was wearing a green T-shirt with an Eevee sitting on top of a tree stump, ears up and eyes bright, with a smile on the Normal-Type’s face.

“Well, it looks okay,” Crystal remarked, looking down at herself. “Wearing shirts with things on them is going to take some getting used to, though.”

“I like it,” Richie spoke up, coming over to stand next to Crystal.

Crystal looked down at the Kirlia and smiled in response. “I like it, too. I just haven’t really worn shirts like this very much before. It’ll definitely be something that I should do more often, though.”

After hiding her ears and tail, Crystal made her way down to the cafeteria and grabbed some breakfast for herself and her team before sitting down in a back corner of the cafeteria. Ando was on the floor underneath the table – something that was starting to become a bit of a routine for them – while Richie sat next to Crystal and ate.

Samuel looked between the floor and the table with a bit of a confused look on his face. “Uh….”

Crystal noticed his confusion and smiled a little. “Where do you want to sit? It doesn’t really matter where you go, so long as you can get up again.”

At Crystal’s statement, Samuel paused for a moment before nodding and jumping onto a chair that was across from her and Richie. When Crystal pushed his bowl over to him, the Breloom promptly stuck his head in the bowl and started eating.

Crystal’s smile went a little crooked as she held in a giggle. _He mustn’t be able to use his arms because they’re so short when he isn’t stretching them._

In a matter or minutes, breakfast was done, and Crystal was once again outside in the fresh, clean air that surrounded Verdenturf and the path between the town and Mauville.

Crystal breathed in the fresh morning air, practically smelling the dew as her shoes crunched down the grass underneath them. “Wow. This place…it almost makes me feel like I just want to stay here for the rest of my life. It feels so peaceful here.” She closed her eyes and tilted her head back as she continued walking, feeling the morning sunlight warm her face. “It’s just…it feels so much like Pallet Town, but it’s so much better than that.” She sighed. “I wish that Team Magnus wasn’t around so that I would be able to take my time here. Just…wow.”

“Yeah,” Richie agreed, nodding.

Samuel didn’t say anything, but Crystal could tell from the look on his face that he was agreeing with her, as well.

It didn’t take too long for them to reach Mauville, and Crystal stepped into the just-as-cool building before pausing in order to have a look around.

“Let’s see, the Gym’s right over…there.” Crystal turned to face down one direction in the hallway, then started towards the part of the city-sized building that Watson happened to work in on a daily basis.

When she and her team stepped inside, Crystal was greeted by the sight of a nearly-empty Gym, with small towers of metal covered in coils positioned in random locations throughout the Gym. Since everything was off, Crystal was able to walk past them without needing to step on switches or avoid Trainers.

Watson was already waiting for Crystal at the back of the Gym, a huge grin on his face. Next to him was the blue and gold Pokémon that had been with him in New Mauville – a Manectric.

“Good morning!” Crystal greeted cheerily.

“Good morning!” Watson responded in a cheery voice. “I’m glad you remembered what I said yesterday! Are you ready to learn?”

Crystal nodded, slipping her backpack off her shoulders and putting it down at the edge of the small arena that Watson had built into his Gym. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Good!” There was a bright twinkle in Watson’s eye. “Do you know how to use any Electric-Type moves already?”

Crystal nodded again. “I learned how to use Thundershock some time ago, when I was traveling on my own. A Flaafy was kind enough to have the patience to teach me.”

Watson burst out laughing. “Good! Thundershock is an excellent place to start, since all Electric-Types have access to it at once point or another in their lives. But, like all good moves, it doesn’t hit all the time, does it?”

Crystal rubbed the back of her head, thinking back. “Not always, but most of the moves I know do manage to hit most of the time. I know that some moves can have a hard time hitting the opponent depending on how much power you have to put into them, but I haven’t really learned too many of those.”

Watson nodded. “While there are Electric-Type moves that have very poor accuracy, there is one that will hit your opponent without fail.” He grinned. “It’s called Shock Wave, and I’ve made sure that every single one of my Pokémon know how to use it.”

“Shock Wave?” Crystal’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “I saw Gold using that yesterday -- it looked like a pretty useful move."

“Exactly! If you had challenged my Gym, I would have given you a TM as a gift to you as you wanted, but since you didn’t and saved my life instead, I figured it might be better if you just learned the move from my Manectric, Max.” Watson patted the four-legged Pokémon sitting next to him. “I figured that the TM probably wouldn’t work so well.”

Crystal shook her head. “I found one that had Safeguard once, and since I hadn’t learned it, I wanted to see if I could manage it by using the TM. Something about me just makes it so that they don’t work when I use them, I guess.” She smiled. “And besides, I like it better when I can learn from the Pokémon that know them, rather than a machine. That's what I ended up doing with Safeguard anyway."

Watson burst out laughing again. “Well spoken!”

The Gym Leader turned and started for the back of the Gym, adding, “I’m going to move up to a more safe location – I’d recommend that your Pokémon come along with me and find hiding places, too, because learning any kind of move can be pretty disastrous.”

Crystal nodded in agreement. “Right.” She looked over at her team. “You guys better go after Watson. I don’t want to see any of you getting hurt because I ended up setting off a move wrong.”

“You can do that?” Richie asked in surprise as Ando started moving forward after the old man.

Crystal nodded. “Moves can backfire sometimes. You guys won’t have to worry about it because you learn your moves automatically when you reach certain levels of power. I have to work at learning my moves because most of the ones I know actually aren’t ones that I can learn naturally. And the moves I can learn naturally are pretty limited – I only learn a new one every ten levels.”

“And you’re fifty right now, right?” When Crystal confirmed Samuel’s question with a nod, he asked. “What move did you learn when you got there, then?”

“Ancient Power.” Crystal smiled when the two Pokémon exchanged looks. “Now, how about you two get going and follow after Ando? I don’t want to force you guys to stay inside all day.”

Richie and Samuel jolted a little at the suggestion, eyes widening as they remembered why they were in the building in the first place. Both of them nodded to Crystal, then ran for the back of the Gym, disappearing behind an open panel in the wall that Watson and Ando had disappeared into.

Crystal watched the two Pokémon disappear, then turned her attention to Max. “So, how do you want to teach me?”

The Electric-Type Pokémon paused for a moment, then stood up and walked over to Crystal. “You said you know Thundershock. Would you mind showing me?”

“Not at all.” Crystal dropped the illusion in her ears and tail and started to concentrate on the electrical energy that she had last used in the Petalburg Woods. The energy came to her after a moment, and she released the attack, aiming for the back wall of the Gym.

To her surprise, the Thundershock went for the wall, then took a sudden turn and was absorbed into Max.

“Hmmmm….” Max cocked his head as the electricity ran over him before dissipating. “A little below average, but that’s to be expected – you aren’t even partially Electric, after all.”

Crystal’s tail twitched curiously. “Was that Lightning Rod just now? Is that your ability?”

Max nodded. “It is one of the few abilities that my line has access to, yes. It comes in handy when my Trainer’s traps go haywire – which they have on some occasions.”

Crystal considered that for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah, he’d definitely need a Pokémon like you around when that does happen.” She shifted her stance a little. “Do you want me to fire off another one?”

Max shook his head, then walked around Crystal, looking over her with a watchful eye. “All right. Releasing electricity is only the first step in using Shock Wave. The next step is being able to release that electricity in all directions, as that is what Shock Wave is meant to do. Most Electric-Types know how to release their moves in one direction, but multiple directions takes time in order reach that point. I want to see you try and do that now.”

Crystal paused for a moment, then gave a nod. “All right. I’ll see what I can do.” She took in a breath and forced her muscles to relax before she started working on gathering energy for the attack. Having just used Thundershock a moment ago, the energy was a little easier to gather.

When Crystal reached the same amount that she needed for Thundershock, she focused on pushing the energy outward in all directions.

The electricity sparked on the surface of her skin before a loud explosion was suddenly set off.

“Bwahahahahahaha!”

Crystal looked up in alarm when she heard the loud roar of laughter, and she caught sight of Watson standing above them, holding his stomach as he stood doubled over, laughing so hard that it was clear that he was crying as a result.

“Oh, wow! I didn’t think that a failed attempt would do _that_!” Watson pointed at Crystal, wheezing.

Crystal blinked in confusion before she realized that there was something up with her hair. Reaching up, her eyes widened.

“How did _that_ happen?!” Crystal started frantically pulling her hair down, wincing every time a loud _zap!_ rang out in the air. “I didn’t think that my hair would end up doing that!”

As Watson’s laughter petered out, Crystal could clearly hear Samuel snickering as she pushed down her hair.

Crystal scowled unhappily as she finally managed to get her hair to behave and pushed it down all of the way. “This is going to get old and annoying really fast.”

“Consider it motivation to get the move right sooner, then.” Max clearly looked amused, as well, but he wasn’t openly laughing – something that Crystal was happy about. “Try again, and this time, put more power into it.”

“More power?” Crystal repeated.

“A Thundershock like that isn’t going to be enough energy for a Shock Wave. Try putting a little more in, then force it outward in all directions.”

Crystal paused to absorb that, then gave a nod. “Okay. I’ll give it a try.” She started working on gathering that energy together again, focusing on bringing together more electricity than she had been before.

It was a little difficult after she had reached what she needed for Thundershock, and it took a lot of experimentation that ended more often than not in Crystal’s hair and fur getting filled with static energy and puffing out like some terrified Pokémon do when they’re terrified.

“You know, I’d have thought that you would have ears where normal humans do,” Watson commented after Crystal had failed again. She wasn’t making it a point to keep track of how many times it had been, just because she wanted to pay attention to when the move would actually work.

“Hmmm?” Crystal looked up at Watson, then reached up and touched the side of her head – where ears should have been on a normal person, but weren’t. “Oh, that? It’s because I have the ears on top of my head, I guess. I’m just so used to hearing things from up here that I never really thought about it. And I guess that I don’t really need two sets of ears when I can hear just fine when with one.”

Watson burst out laughing. “That’s true! I simply found it strange that you don’t have ears where a normal human would have them.”

“Which is why I like leaving my hair down so that no one will notice.” Crystal frowned at her staticy hair, wondering why it and the fur on her ears and tail were affected so much by Shock Wave going wrong. “I’m going to need to get all this static out of my hair before I’ll be able to set foot outside the Gym.”

“Just make sure you master the move before anyone comes in to challenge Watson,” Max spoke up. “You’ll be fine. Just keep trying, all right?”

Crystal nodded. “Right. Here I go again.”

Crystal closed her eyes, and felt the electricity building up as soon as she reached inside and started gathering together what she needed. “Okay…I hope this works!”

Crystal threw her arms out at the same time that she released the electrical energy that she had been building up. The resulting explosion of energy was sent straight for Max, who absorbed it without a problem.

“A little strong for a Shock Wave,” Max commented thoughtfully. “You put a lot more in there than I’d thought you would. Still, that was good for a try that actually resulted in the move.”

Crystal’s eyes snapped open when she heard that. “What, really? I did it?”

“What, you weren’t watching?” Watson let out a roar of laughter. “Imagine that! Using a move that can hit no matter what, and she had her eyes shut!”

Crystal frowned up at Watson. “Well, I figured that I might end up getting zapped if I left them open, so I just gathered the energy and let it out!”

Watson kept right on laughing for a moment longer, then calmed himself down. “All right, all right. Well, you’ve got the basics down, so now the only thing you need to do is practice using it until you can attack without having it backfire on you.” He snickered, as though the mere memory of Crystal’s hair sticking up was hilarious.

Crystal nodded. “Right. That’s how it is with some of my other moves.”

“Do you think you could teach one of us how to use the moves that you know?” Richie spoke up. “That Shock Wave looked kind of…cool.”

Watson gave the Kirlia a curious look while Crystal looked surprised at the idea.

“Well, I could try, but we don’t exactly know what moves you can and can’t learn,” Crystal explained. “Because I’m part Mew, I can learn any move that I could end up coming across. You guys, though, are a bit more limited in what you can learn. We’ll probably have to ask around for you guys.”

“If your Pokémon are interested in learning moves that they wouldn’t normally learn, I’d suggest heading north to Fallarbor,” Watson commented thoughtfully. “Last I heard, there is a Pokémon researcher up there who is an expert on all the moves that any Pokémon can learn at any time. You might be able to talk to him in order to figure out what sorts of moves your team can use.”

“You’re the second person who’s told me to go up there,” Crystal responded in surprise.

Watson looked intrigued. “Oh? And who was the first one?”

“Lydia. She said that I should go talk to Professor Cozmo to see if I can find a Dawn Stone for Richie to evolve with.” Crystal nodded to the Kirlia, who nodded in agreement when Watson looked down at him.

“Really? Well, then, why not take care of them both at once?” Watson laughed.

“Maybe. I’ll have to see about that.” Crystal frowned a little. “But what about Gyms? I know that I can go back to Petalburg to fight Norman, but he wanted me to get more Gym Badges first – four, at least.”

“Really? Well, you’re in luck – there’s another Gym along the way to Fallarbor.” Watson smiled. “It’s in a town called Lavaridge. You can get there by taking a Cable Car up Mt. Chimney and then by working your way down the side of the volcano. I’ve heard that they recently changed hands with the Gym. Maybe you could help to break the new Leader in.” Watson’s smile turned into a large grin.

Crystal considered that for a moment. “Well, I don’t see why not. If the Leader needs help to get used to the job, I could definitely come up and help. Do you know who the leader is?”

“Well, the old one said that he was a cousin of Blaine from Kanto, and it’s his granddaughter that’s taking over.”

“Blaine has relatives here?” Crystal’s ears straightened up in surprise. “I didn’t know that!”

“Oh? You know Blaine?” Watson looked interested.

“Yeah!” Crystal nodded vigorously, her face getting a soft look. “He was the first person who was ever really kind to me – Professor Oak was the second.” She frowned a little. “I wonder how much his relatives here know about what he’s done in Kanto….” Her tail twitched slightly – almost as though it had been agitated.

“Well, there’s only one way to find out.” Watson grinned. “Go to Lavaridge!”

Crystal blinked at the exclamation, then gave a nod. “Right. Okay, guys! You heard the Gym Leader – we’re going to Lavaridge next!”


	39. Chapter 39

“Hey, Crystal! Wait up!”

Crystal turned out of surprise when she heard Brendan’s voice. “Brendan? What is it?”

Brendan came to a stop in front of Crystal, pausing to catch his breath before speaking. “I saw you were heading out, and I wanted to know if it was okay for me to travel with you for a while.”

Crystal blinked, then frowned. “Why? I thought you were going to head out to Dewford to challenge Brawly.”

“I decided that I was going to take care of as many Gyms on land as I could before I went back and challenged him,” Brendan explained. “I mean, I can probably talk to Mr. Briney in order to get there, and he lives not too far away from Petalburg. I could take care of that Gym, then go and fight Norman without taking all that much time to travel.” He frowned slightly at Crystal. “So, where are you planning on going?”

“Well, I was thinking about going to Fallarbor originally. A Breeder mentioned that there was someone up there who might help me find what I need so that Richie can evolve. Watson said there’s a Gym on the way in Lavaridge, so I’m planning on stopping there.”

“Lavaridge?” Brendan blinked. “Do you know the name of the Gym Leader?”

Crystal shook her head. “She’s Blaine’s niece, though, but that could mean anything.”

“Huh.” Brendan frowned. “Well, I guess we’ll just have to wait until we get there in order to see what kinds of Pokémon she uses.” His expression brightened. “It’ll be a nice surprise, though.”

“Yeah.” Crystal nodded. “I’m guessing you’re good to go?”

“Yup.” Brendan gave Crystal a thumbs-up. “Let’s get going!”

Crystal nodded, then turned and walked out of the northern gate, leaving Mauville. Brendan was right on her heels.

“So, where’s Gold?” Brendan frowned, looking back at the city for a moment before looking ahead at the Route.

Crystal shrugged. “We didn’t see him at Watson’s Gym, so either he’s gone off on his own, or he’s planning on doing something else in Mauville before he keeps going.”

There came nods of agreement from Samuel and Richie, who were walking a short distance behind their Trainer.

“Huh.” Brendan considered that for a moment, then shrugged. “Well, I guess he’s welcome to do what he wants. It’s not like we have to keep an eye on him all the time or anything.”

“Yeah.” Crystal spotted something ahead of them and frowned. “Is that the Winstrate House you mentioned when we got to Mauville?”

“Hmm?” Brendan looked over, then gave a nod. “Yeah, that’s it. There’s usually someone standing outside if they want to have matches with anyone, but it looks like they’re taking a break today. Someone must’ve beaten them earlier.”

“Huh. Okay, then.”

The two of them walked past the house and kept going.

“So, how’s your Tailow doing?” Crystal asked, suddenly remembering something.

“He’s actually doing pretty well.” Brendan smiled brightly. “The air around here really helps him out, so I was able to let him out so that he could do some battling. He hasn’t evolved yet, but I think he’s getting pretty close.”

“That’s good.” Crystal smiled out of relief. “Hopefully, he’ll be feeling even better so that he can help you out in other places.”

“Yeah.” Brendan looked ahead, and his smile faded a little. “Oh, boy.”

Crystal frowned, then turned her attention to what was coming ahead of them and raised her eyebrows. “Those are some big rocks….”

“Yeah.” Brendan grabbed one of the PokeBalls off his belt and tossed it forward, releasing Zuzu. “I’m glad I made sure to pick up that Hidden Machine when I was walking around in Mauville. Zuzu, you think you can take care of these things?”

The Marshtomp looked over and up the large boulders that were blocking their path. He blinked in surprise before smirking and slamming his front paws together. “No problem. I’ve got this.”

That said, Zuzu ran forward, bringing back one paw in a clenched fist before slamming into one of the boulders. There was a flash of power, and cracks appeared suddenly in the rock before it fell apart into tiny pieces.

“Heh.” Zuzu jumped back, smirking as he flexed and shook out his paw. “That felt good.”

“Was that move Rock Smash?” Crystal guessed, blinking in surprise.

“Yup!” Brendan grinned. “Have you heard of things called Hidden Machines?”

“Um…I think I might have.” Crystal scratched her head. “Those are the moves that can affect the environment, but they can only be used to affect the environment if you have the Badges. Right?”

“Yeah.” Brendan nodded. “And they’re incredibly expensive and very hard to find, because they can be used multiple times instead of just once, like TMs are.”

“Huh.” Crystal blinked. “That’s definitely pretty handy.”

“Hey, if you guys are going to be talking, we should probably keep moving,” Zuzu volunteered. “The cliffs around here don’t exactly look stable, so rocks probably end up falling down here a lot.”

Crystal and Brendan both looked up at the rocky towers that rose up above them, frowning for a moment before they saw the rocky edges of the cliffs and how the rocks that were up there did look kind of precarious.

“Yeah, we should probably keep moving.” Crystal nodded, then started walking past the large boulder that was still sitting there with a sharp, pointed edge sticking up towards the sky. Brendan and the Pokémon with them followed quickly.

“So, what did you end up doing while we were in Mauville and Verdanturf?” Brendan asked.

“I ended up spending most of my time talking to the Breeders that were there,” Crystal explained. “One worked with Samuel for a while so that his arms could get a little stronger, and I talked with another one so that I could figure out a few things about Richie’s line of Pokémon. You?”

“Well, like I said, I spend most of the time working on training – mainly Taylor, my Tailow. The team’s getting stronger, but it’ll be a while before we’re at our full strength.”

“Yeah!” Zuzu butted in. “But we’re already really strong!”

Crystal chuckled at the Marshtomp’s exclamation. “We’re getting stronger, too.” She looked over at her team. “I now have two Pokémon that have evolved at least once, and I know that Richie can go even further. Ando hasn’t changed form yet, though.”

“Not time yet,” the Anorith said simply.

Brendan jumped. “Man, every time that Pokémon speaks, I’m caught by surprise.” He shook his head. “I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to the fact that you have a Pokémon that can speak a human language, Crystal.”

“It is a bit unusual,” Crystal admitted, looking down at Ando. “I called home and asked Professor Oak to get into contact with my big sister to see if she knows anything about Anorith. Maybe she can explain a few things about these guys the next time I see her, but it’ll probably be a while before then.”

“What do you mean?” Brendan asked, frowning.

“Rosa doesn’t use technology all that much.” Crystal shrugged. “There is a way that I can get into contact with her, but that’s going to turn a lot of heads if I try here in Hoenn.”

“Why’s that?” Brendan’s frown deepened.

“Well, it’s mostly got to do with…well, what I showed you guys earlier.” Crystal motioned to her head, and Brendan’s eyes widened.

“Oh.” Brendan blinked a couple times. “So your sister is…like you?”

Crystal snorted and shook her head. “Not exactly. She is my adopted big sister – in a way – but at the same time, she kinda isn’t.” Seeing the confused look that was on Brendan’s face, she added, “Rosa isn’t someone who likes to really show up in front of people unless she absolutely has to. I’m not going to tell you more about her unless she feels it’s all right.”

“Uh…okay, then.” Brendan gave a nod.

“Hi there, you two!”

Crystal turned sharply when she heard the unfamiliar voice, and she caught sight of a woman with blue hair and a microphone standing next to a man with a large camera sitting on one shoulder.

“You two look like you’re pretty strong Trainers,” the woman continued brightly. “Would you be up for a Double Battle?”

“Double Battle?” Crystal repeated in confusion.

“It’s a battle where Trainers send out two Pokémon at once,” Brendan explained. “I’ve seen some Trainers in Petalburg doing them to show off their teamwork with their Pokémon.” He looked over at the pair standing a short distance from them. “I’d like to give it a try. What about you, Crystal?”

“Uh, well….” Crystal hesitated, looking at the camera that was there for a moment. “I haven’t fought or seen any Double Battles before…but two on one would be really unfair. So…I guess?”

“Excellent!” The woman smiled delightedly as she pulled out a PokeBall; the cameraman did the same.

“You two have your Pokémon chosen?”

“I do.” Brendan nodded to Zuzu, who jumped forward eagerly with a large grin on his face.

“Um…” Crystal frowned, looking at her own Pokémon for a minute. “Ando, you haven’t see much action recently. How about you have a go at it?”

The Anorith crawled forward to stand next to Zuzu, then raised his claws in order to try and look intimidating.

“Huh. I haven’t seen a Pokémon like that before.” The woman blinked for a moment before grinning. “This is going to be an interesting match! Let’s go, Whismer!”

“Magnemite!” the cameraman added, throwing his own PokeBall.

The two spheres burst open releasing two Pokémon that Crystal had seen a few times before: a metal ball with magnets, and a pale pink-ish Pokémon with floppy ears that looked extremely nervous.

“Okay.” Brendan grinned. “Let’s go!”

**Space Break**

Gold’s hair sparked as he moved through the machine parts that were lying around, frowning.

“Are you sure this is a good idea, to go through this stuff?” Ethan’s ears twitched. “And without the others here?”

Gold had left the others at the Day Care to relax for a while, telling the Breeders there to just let them interact with each other and whatever other Pokémon might be around; he wanted them to be able to relax before they went deeper into Hoenn. That, and he wanted the two to them to get a little stronger on their own.

“We don’t have to worry about being affected as much as they could,” Gold responded without looking up. He paused, then picked up a small, green stone. “Huh. A Thunder Stone. I wonder who left this here?”

“Do not let me anywhere near that thing,” Ethan hissed, his cheeks sparking.

“Don’t worry, I won’t.” Gold pocketed the stone absently and kept digging through the destroyed parts, frowning. “That can’t be the only reason that Magnus decided to make this place a base out here, though.” He absently reached for a certain spot on his belt, only to pause when he remembered that all of his other Pokémon – including the one he hadn’t really used yet – were at the Day Care.

He hoped that the Breeders weren’t having a problem with the other Pokémon that he had given them.

“Hey, what’s that?”

Gold looked up, seeing that Ethan was looking over at something. He followed the Pikachu’s gaze, and his eyes widened. He scrambled out of the pile of machine parts that he had been digging through and ran over to the wall, where some of the metal plating had been torn off.

“This looks just like….” Gold trailed off as he touched the wall. “We need to see if we can find more of this. Come on!” He turned and grabbed at the metal plating, his hands sparking. “Give me a hand, Ethan!”

**Space Break**

Blaine walked into Oak’s lab, wiping his face and head with a large handkerchief. “That Kalos Fire Pokémon is incredible. I don’t think I’ve seen a Type combination like it before.”

“It certainly is different from the other Fire Pokémon Starters from the other regions,” Oak agreed, looking up from the large book that was in front of him. “Most of them are part Fighting – in fact, the only Fire Pokémon that’s a pure Type is Typhlosion.”

Blaine nodded. “Which can be both good and bad, admittedly. I’m starting to wonder if there are any regions that have Fire Pokémon that have Types that help cover their weaknesses. I’d like to see a Fire and Electric-Type Pokémon one of these days. Or a Fire and Water-Type.” He sighed and shook his head. “I suppose I’ll have to do with the other Type combinations.”

Oak hummed in agreement, looking amused. He quickly gained a serious expression, however. “There are probably still a lot of Pokémon out there that we know little to nothing about. I just hope that the other regions which hold them start to open up more and allow us to see what sorts of Pokémon they have.” He motioned to the book open in front of him. “From what I’m reading here, there are even some Legendary Pokémon that may exist that we don’t have any proof on yet!" Oak laughed as he put a hand to his forehead. “Just imagine that, Blaine! There may be more Legendary Pokémon than just what we’ve heard and seen in the regions we already know about!”

Blaine grinned. “Sounds like you’re starting to get interested in that old habit of yours again, Oak. What was it that you were so interested in? Discovering where Pokémon described only in myths might live?”

Oak chuckled and rubbed his chin in an absent fashion. “Well, it would be interesting to see what would happen if I picked it up again. Rosa would probably have something to say about that, though….” He frowned.

Blaine frowned, his grin fading. “Having no luck getting into contact with her?”

“No.” Oak shook his head. “It’s almost like she and Catzin have vanished off the face of the earth. Not even Mythos knows where the two of them are, and one of them is usually near him at all times. I wonder if something happened to them.”

Blaine’s frown deepened. “You don’t think that they were captured by people who might not be kind, do you?”

“I hope not!” Oak looked a little panicked for a moment, but then he let out a sigh and shook his head. “Those two are capable of taking care of themselves. After all, they do know every single Pokémon attack that exists.”

Blaine nodded. “They have evaded capture for centuries, I suppose.” He looked over at the blank screen, where Crystal’s face had been just the day before. “Her birthday is coming up soon. I wonder if she’s going to do anything to celebrate.”

“She probably will.” Oak smiled. “She is only turning nine, after all.” He gained a thoughtful expression. “It’s strange, though. She’s only turning nine, and yet she is already a proficient Trainer in her own right. I suppose it has something to do with her Pokémon half’s strength and how well she can hold her own in battle.” He looked at Blaine. “What do you think?”

“I’m not an expert on Pokémon psychology!” Blaine protested, raising his hands. “Doesn’t one of your colleges study that kind of thing?”

“Ah! Yes, you’re right – I believe Professor Rowan might be looking into it over in Sinnoh. I’ll have to ask him if he knows about how Pokémon mature as they level up and if he’s been able to look into it.” Oak nodded to himself. “Yes, I’ll definitely have to look into that…but there are other things that need to be taken care of first.” Oak closed the book and stood up from his desk. “Like looking at the data on the Pokémon from the other regions! There are PokeDex entries to write, and they aren’t about to write themselves!”

Blaine chuckled in agreement. “Right. I’d better get back to work writing those Fire-Type entries. There are certainly a lot of them!”

“Not as many as there are Water-Types.” Oak let out a groan. “I’d better get those done soon…..”


	40. Chapter 40

“Wow! You two really trounced us!” The interviewer – Gabby, she had introduced herself as – let out a happy-sounding laugh. “I don’t think I’ve got after any other Trainers who have beaten us that fast!”

“You’ve battled other Trainers this way?” Crystal asked, blinking in surprise.

The cameraman – Ty – nodded. “Yup. Gabby and I are looking for Trainers who are on the up-and-up. We’ve been camping out up here for a few days now, and we’ve fought a few Trainers. None of them are quite as powerful as you two are.”

“Do you mind if we ask you a few questions?” Gabby asked, stepping forwards with her microphone.

“Uh….” Crystal looked over at Brendan. “That depends on the questions.”

“I just want to know how you two raised your Pokémon so well,” Gabby assured. “You wouldn’t mind doing that, would you?”

Crystal relaxed. “No, I don’t.”

“Ask away,” Brendan added.

“How long have you two been traveling?”

Crystal frowned as she thought back over her journey. Her eyes widened a moment later when she realized just how long it had been. “About a week and a half, I think. Wow – I’d kind of thought that I would be traveling around for longer than that!”

“It’s about the same amount of time for me,” Brendan added.

“Really? And already, your Pokémon are quite strong.” Gabby nodded in approval. “What are your training styles? Do you train all day, or…?”

“I usually spend a lot more time relaxing with my Pokémon rather than having them train,” Crystal responded. “If I do train my team, it usually isn’t for very long, and I don’t push them all that much, either – I don’t want to run my team ragged. And when I do train, I like to focus on the Pokémon’s strengths."

“I kind of do that, too.” Brendan nodded in agreement. “But I’ve been training Zuzu more than anyone else on my team recently.” He patted his Marshtomp’s head, causing the Pokémon to smile happily. “He’s the first Pokémon that I had, and he’s starting to become a Pokémon that I need to use a lot.”

“Well, our region is the one that has the most water-based routes of any region,” Gabby acknowledged. “I wouldn’t be surprised that a Water Pokémon ends up taking the front and center. Do you have any Water Pokémon, Crystal?”

Crystal shook her head. “Not yet. I know that having a Water-Type is important, but I haven’t run into any Water-Types who would want to join me yet. Ando does know Water Gun, so I’m thinking that he might be part Water already, but there’s no telling unless he manages to evolve sometime.”

“That’s one of the prehistoric Pokémon that I’ve been hearing about from the Devon Corporation, right?” Gabby looked down at Ando, who looked up at her, blinking curiously.

“Yeah.” Crystal rubbed the back of her head. “They actually gave him to me after I managed to help them out with something. He hasn’t evolved yet, and since my other two Pokémon have already evolved, I’m starting to think that he might be a late bloomer Pokémon – you know, one that takes a long time to evolve.”

“That’s pretty interesting.” Gabby looked down at Ando for a little bit longer before looking back at Crystal and Brendan. “So, I noticed that you’re keeping your Pokémon out with you. Why is that?”

“I like to be able to walk and talk with my Pokémon,” Crystal replied honestly.

“I usually keep at least one Pokémon out at all times,” Brendan added. “Maybe two of them. I can’t keep out all three, mostly because my Tailow was affected with poison for a while before I caught him. Nurse Joy said he wouldn’t be able to stay out for long until he evolves, so I’ve been working with him a little at a time so that he can get stronger.”

“You caught it poisoned?” Gabby repeated.

“Petalburg Woods was full of poison for a while,” Brendan confirmed, nodding. “It probably isn’t as bad now, but the Pokémon that are living there are probably going to be affected for a while.”

Gabby paused, absorbing that. “Huh. And what about you, Crystal? Do you have any Pokémon that were affected by it?”

“Samuel was from Petalburg Woods,” Crystal acknowledged, nodding to the Breloom. “He’s got Poison Heal now instead of Effect Spore, like most Breloom do, so if he runs into any poison anytime soon, he can heal himself instead of get hurt by it.”

“Kinda makes me wish I had Effect Spores instead,” Samuel muttered, looking down. “What are the odds of me being poisoned?”

Gabby nodded. “That can be a useful ability, especially since Poison Pokémon are so good against Grass Pokémon. You might want to look into finding a Toxic Orb for him.”

“Toxic Orb…? Uh, okay.”

Gabby gave a smile. “Okay, we’re almost done here. I’ve just got one question left for the both of you – what would you suggest other Trainers do in order to strengthen their teams?”

“Know your Pokémon’s strengths and weaknesses,” Brendan said seriously. “If you know that only certain Types can match up to others when it comes to their strengths and weaknesses, then play with that to your advantage. When Zuzu was a Mudkip, I thought up all kinds of ideas for how he could avoid Electric and Grass-Types. Now that he’s part Ground, I have to worry about Grass and Ice-Types, so I’m working on a strategy that will let Zuzu stay in a match and catch his opponent by surprise.”

“You should get to know your Pokémon on a personal level, too,” Crystal spoke up. “The stronger the bond between Trainer and Pokémon, the more likely you are going to be able to pull through fights you might not have been able to otherwise. Even matches where you’re at an advantage are up in the air as to who the winner will be, so keep that bond strong so that you know your Pokémon will be able to handle whatever it is that they come up against. I believe in my Pokémon that way, and we haven’t run into any difficult Trainers yet. I know we’re probably going to end up losing sometime, but that’s just a part of being a Trainer.”

Gabby nodded in approval. “Well said!” She smiled brightly. “Thanks for the interview, you two! And keep an eye on the televisions in the Pokémon Centers – you might just end up on TV sometime!”

“We will,” Brendan promised, grinning.

Crystal’s smile was a little more nervous as she nodded.

“Maybe we’ll see you two again sometime!” Gabby added cheerily. She turned and looked at Ty. “Let’s go send this in and see what everyone else thinks of these two!”

“Right!” Ty looked at Crystal and Brendan, giving them a grin. “Good luck out there!”

“Thanks!” Brendan’s grin widened a little as Ty and Gabby ran off towards Mauville.

Crystal let out a sigh, her shoulders relaxing. “That felt really weird, talking to those two.”

“Really?” Brendan looked over at Crystal, raising an eyebrow. “I didn’t think it was.”

“Well, I haven’t really been on TV…this is the first time that I’ve been given an interview, actually.” Crystal rubbed the back of her head somewhat sheepishly. “I didn’t think it was coming to make me tired like that.”

“Well, you did all right for your first time,” Brendan responded. He smirked. “Come on – we’ve got to get to Lavaridge, right? Maybe by the time we take care of the Gym, we’ll be able to watch ourselves on TV!”

Crystal smiled a little nervously. “Yeah. Maybe.” The smile faded somewhat. “We should keep going, though. I don’t think I want to get caught out on a route when it gets dark.”

“Why not?” Brendan grinned. “It could be fun, you know. There are some Pokémon that only come out in the middle of the night. Maybe one of those could be a Pokémon that you might want to use.”

“Maybe.” Crystal frowned. “I’m not sure that I want to try and look for a Pokémon in the middle of the night, though.”

Brendan shrugged. “Okay then. Suit yourself.” He grinned, then took off at a mad dash down the route.

“H-hey!” Zuzu let out a yelp before he started running after his Trainer on all fours. “Wait up!”

Crystal stared after Brendan with an expression of surprise for a moment, before she let out a laugh. Motioning for her team to follow her, she took off at a jog after Brendan, taking a more relaxed pace so that Ando would be able to keep up, since Richie and Samuel had longer legs and more strength after having evolved.

It didn’t take too long to catch up with Brendan – he had managed to run straight for a girl wearing a blue uniform and had started a Pokémon battle – his Linoone against her Sandshrew. Lily had managed to take down the little sand-colored Pokémon with a Headbutt by the time Zuzu, Crystal, and her team had managed to catch up with him.

“Wow, you’re Pokémon are strong!” the girl exclaimed as she returned her Sandshrew to its PokeBall. “Did you get the Mauville Gym Badge?”

“Yup.” Brendan smirked. “My friend Crystal did, too. We’re going to Lavaridge to get the next one.”

“Wow! Well, good luck! I’ve heard that the Trainers there like to train on top of the volcano in order to get stronger!”

“On top of the volcano?” Crystal repeated in surprise.

The girl nodded. “Yup! Because the Trainers want to be able to be as strong as their Pokémon are, and be able to move around in hot places! You’re gonna have to be careful when you go there, ‘kay?”

“We’ll keep an eye out,” Brendan promised, smiling. “Thanks for the tip.”

“No problem!” The girl beamed happily. “Good luck!”

As the group walked away from the girl, Crystal turned and looked at Brendan. “The only kinds of Trainers that I know who like to train on top of volcanoes are Fire-Type Trainers. That probably means we’re going up against a Fire-Type Gym Leader.”

Brendan nodded. “Yeah. I’m thinking the same thing.” He looked over at Zuzu. “Well, I definitely have this one in the bag – I just have to make sure that Zuzu’s strong enough, and we’ll be able to swamp that place no problem. You though….” He looked back at Crystal and looked over her team. “You don’t have any Pokémon that are strong against Fire-Types.”

“Yeah.” Crystal nodded in agreement. “I’m going to need to find another Pokémon for my team so that I can cover the weaknesses that my team has.”

“Do you want to go back to Slateport and find a Water-Type?”

Crystal shook her head at Brendan’s question. “That girl had a Sandshrew back there, so there might be some Ground-Types hiding around here somewhere. Fire is weak to ground, so if I can find a Ground-Type, I should be fine.”

Brendan blinked a couple times, then slammed a hand against his forehead. “Oh, right! I’d forgot about that! Zuzu is going to be doubly good against them!”

“Yeah!” Zuzu raised a clenched paw, grinning widely.

Samuel scowled, moving his paws as though he wanted to fold his arms across his chest. “Well, isn’t that just great. I evolved, and I can’t do anything to help against the next Gym.”

“You can help me catch the Ground-Type,” Crystal offered. “They are weak to Grass-Types.”

Samuel paused at that, then gave a nod in response. “Sure. I can do that.”

“Thanks.” Crystal smiled at the Breloom. “The next Gym after this one is probably going to be Norman. I’m thinking that we’re all going to have to get involved.”

“Okay!” Richie replied cheerily.

“Crystal?”

Crystal blinked when she heard the slightly familiar voice, and she looked up at the road in front of them as she came to a stop. Her eyes widened a moment later, and she gave a smile. “Hey, Maxie! Long time, no see! How have you been doing?”

“Pretty well, all things considered.” Maxie adjusted the position of a pair of goggles on top of his head as he came over to the pair. Crystal noticed that his hair looked extremely windswept, and his red-colored outfit was covered in sand. “I was just doing a geological survey of the desert up ahead. You two might not want to go in there – there’s been a strong sandstorm there that started up a few days ago, and it hasn’t let up since. You’re going to need a pair of Go-Goggles in order to get through.” He tapped the goggles on top of his head.

“We were actually planning on heading to Lavaridge,” Brendan spoke up. “Our next Gym challenge is there.”

“Which is exactly why I brought up the desert.” Maxie fingered the three PokeBalls that were at his waist. “There are Ground-Types living in the desert – I’m guessing that you were thinking about catching one so that you could face off against the Gym Leader?”

Crystal blinked. “Yeah, I was thinking about that. Brendan already has his Marshtomp, so he doesn’t need to worry about finding a Pokémon with an advantage.”

Maxie looked over at the Water/Ground-Type and raised an eyebrow in interest. “I guess. Looks like you’ve got yourself pretty well covered against Flannery.”

Brendan nodded, then frowned a little. “Hey…are you Archie’s brother?”

Maxie blinked, then nodded. “Yes, actually. How do you know Archie?”

“We ran into him when we were leaving Slateport,” Crystal explained. “He’d caught a Wailmer in order to get there quickly from Oldale.”

“Really?” Maxie smiled a little. “I’ve made a few new additions to the team myself – one from the desert, and one from the route out here.This one has to be by far my favorite.” He grabbed one of the PokeBalls off his belt and tossed it, releasing a four-legged, yellow Pokémon with a hump on its back. “This is Numel. He is a Fire/Ground-Type. The Gym Leader in Lavaridge actually uses his evolved form, Camerupt.”

“Really?” Crystal got down in a crouch and looked Numel in the eye. “Hi there. I definitely haven’t seen a Pokémon like you before.”

Numel stared at Crystal with wide eyes, and he took a hesitant step back, causing the Trainer to chuckle.

“Shy little guy, aren’t you?” Crystal rose to her feet. “So you’ve been to Lavaridge, Maxie?”

Maxie nodded. “It’s up that cliff face over there.” He pointed down a path leading away from the desert. “The only way to get there is if you take the Cable Car up Mt. Chimney and climb down the Jagged Pass. Come on – I’ll show you.”

Maxie led Crystal, Brendan, and their Pokémon down the path, past a couple boys playing with a pair of Sandshrew by a decently large tent. The boys looked over as the group passed, and waved before going back to the two Pokémon.

“So Sandshrew are native to the region, too?” Crystal looked at Maxie curiously. “I didn’t know that.”

“There are a lot of Pokémon that a number of regions have in common,” Maxie said, nodding. “It’s part of my job to see which ones are Hoenn native and which ones are Pokémon that could have invaded and populated from another region. It’s too soon to be sure whether or not the Sandshrew were brought over here somehow, but it looks like the ones in the desert fit in well with they ecosystem that’s been set up there.”

“Huh.”

Maxie came to a stop in front of a cliff with ridges carved into it. Motioning upward, he explained, “Lavaridge is up there. Those ridges make it impossible for Trainers to be able to climb up, so we have to take a completely different route in order to get up there. The view from the top of Mt. Chimney is fantastic, though, when there isn’t any ash in the air.”

“I’m guessing you’ve been up there a few times already?” Crystal grinned.

“I have been,” Maxie admitted. “But I’ve been spending the last two days in the desert, so I haven’t been back to the Pokémon Center there for some time. The Cable Car’s up this way.”

Maxie turned and started towards a sudden rise that was ahead of them, Crystal and the others following after him as he climbed a set of carved stairs.

“Afternoon, Maxie!” greeted a cheery-looking, round Hiker standing near the stairs. “Wow, you’re really dirty! Where’ve you been?”

“The desert,” Maxie replied. “I’m going back to Lavaridge in order to get cleaned up and relax for a while. My friends are planning on taking the Gym challenge, as well.” He motioned to Crystal and Brendan, who nodded in greeting to the Hiker.

“Oh really?” The Hiker frowned. “It doesn’t look like you can right now, Maxie. Here are a couple guys who are saying that the Cable Car’s been out since this morning. Something about loose wires or something like that.”

“It’s out?” Crystal repeated in surprise. “And it’s the only way into Lavaridge?”

“Yup.” The Hiker sighed and shook his head. “You’d think that they would have thought of something else in order to get Trainers to the Gym if the Car’s out. Sorry, you two, but you’re just going to have to wait until it’s fixed.”

“Well, isn’t that just great.” Brendan let out a sigh and shook his head, but then his expression brightened a moment later. “Well, it gives me more time to train, at least!”

“That definitely would be helpful,” Crystal agreed. “And I can take care of my other errand, too.”

“Your other one?” Maxie repeated.

Crystal nodded. “Yeah. I need to get to Fallarbor. Do you guys have any idea how to get to there from here?”

“Just take the Fiery Path,” the Hiker replied, motioning to the wall of rock that was a short distance from them. There was a cave entrance there. “It cuts straight through the mountain, so you should be able to get to the routes that go to Fallarbor, no problem. A Trainer like Maxie, though, with the Go-Goggles, can cut straight through that sandstorm in order to get there.”

“Gotcha.” Brendan grinned and gave the Hiker a thumbs-up. “Thanks for letting us know! At least we’ll be able to go up there.”

“It’s no problem.” The Hiker chuckled, but gained a more serious look. “I’ve gotta warn ya, though – Mt. Chimney belches a lot of ash up in that direction, so watch out and keep your mouth and nose covered and your Pokémon in their PokeBalls when you start to see gray snow. That stuff will burn your lungs if you let even a spec of it in.”

Crystal’s ears flicked back when she heard that. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks for the warning.”

The Hiker gave her a thumbs-up. “I’m just making sure that my fellow travelers are able to watch out for themselves, that’s all. You be careful now, and watch out for some of the wild Pokémon up there – they can get to be pretty strong and ornery, so you may have to run if you end up seeing them.”

“Okay. We’ll be careful.” Crystal looked over at Maxie. “Are you going to come up with us?”

Maxie shook his head. “I’ve got some more investigating to do in the desert; there’s a strange arrangement of stones there that looks oddly intriguing.”

“All right, then. Good luck!” Crystal gave Maxie an encouraging smile, then looked over at Brendan. “Come on – let’s get going.”

“Right.” Brendan nodded in agreement, smirking. “This is definitely going to be good training for our teams.”

Crystal nodded, then turned and started towards the cave entrance that the Hiker had pointed out. Brendan and their two teams followed after her.


	41. Chapter 41

Crystal looked around in amazement as she entered the Fiery Path that the Hiker had directed them to. “Wow. I didn’t think that a cave could look so red – or feel so warm! It must be because we’re so close to the volcano.”

“Yeah.” Brendan nodded in agreement. “Mt. Chimney is active, but it hasn’t erupted for quite a while, so there’s some lava pockets down here that are heating up the rock. That’s why it’s so warm in here. Plus, Fire-Types like to gather around here, so that just makes it even more warm.”

“Huh.” Crystal put her hand on a cave wall, then pulled it back while blinking in surprise. “Yeah, the cave walls are definitely warm. It’d probably be a bad idea to lean against it.” She looked over at Brendan. “Someone I know did suggest that I get myself a Fire-Type on the team, but I’m not exactly sure what Pokémon I would like to befriend. That Numel Maxie has looks kind of cute, but I wonder what a Camerupt looks like.”

“Those magma slug Pokémon that those Magnus people were using looked kind of interesting,” Brendan remarked. “I think I’d like to have a closer look at one of them.”

“Slugma?” Crystal cocked her head to one side thoughtfully. “They are pretty interesting. Blaine has a Magcargo – that’s Slugma’s evolved form. It’s like a giant magma snail.”

“Huh.” Brendan looked ahead, and his expression brightened. “Hey, look! There’s a Slugma!”

Crystal looked ahead, and she saw the magma slug sitting in the middle of the Path. She smiled brightly. “Yup. Go ahead and go for it.”

“You sure?” Brendan frowned. “You wanted a Fire-Type, right?”

“I don’t need one right now.” Crystal shook her head. “If anything, I’m looking for a Ground or Water-Type to take on Lavaridge when the Cable Car is back in working order.”

“All right, then.” Brendan looked over at Zuzu. “You ready to help me catch a new teammate?”

“You bet!” Zuzu gave his Trainer a thumbs-up. “Just say the word!”

Brendan grinned. “Hit that thing with a Water Gun, and draw back on the power a little – we want to catch this one, not faint it.”

“Right.” Zuzu jumped in front of his Trainer and fired off a stream of water at the Slugma. The fire-Type Pokémon pulled back in response to the attack, its body hissing and releasing steam in some places.

“It’s body is made almost entirely of magma,” Crystal warned.

“Right.” Brendan nodded. “I remember that from back in Slateport.” He reached into a pocket on his backpack and pulled out a certain red and white sphere. “Let’s see if this works.”

The PokeBall went flying, hitting the Slugma and pulling the Pokémon inside. It fell to the ground and shook twice before exploding to pieces, releasing Slugma.

“Rats!” Brendan frowned. “That was my last PokeBall, too.”

“I could give you one of mine,” Crystal spoke up.

“Nah.” Brendan shook his head. “It’s okay. I picked up some supplies when we were in Mauville.” He reached into his backpack again and pulled out a blue ball with red accents. “They had a shipment of Great Balls that had just come in, so I picked up a few of them.”

When Brendan threw the Great Ball, it wiggled, but not as much as the PokeBall had. The resounding click that almost seemed to echo in the Fiery Path brought a grin to Brendan’s and Zuzu’s faces.

“Yes!” Brendan raised a fist in triumph. “We’ve got ourselves a new teammate!”

“Awesome!” Zuzu leapt up, raising a fist of his own. “That makes five in our group now!”

“Now to figure out what to call him.” Brendan looked at the Great Ball with a thoughtful frown for a few seconds. “…Mac. Yeah, that’ll work.” He clipped the Ball to his belt, nodding.

“Why don’t you let him out?” Crystal asked. “It might be a good idea so that he can say good-bye – and get used to you a little.”

Brendan considered that for a minute, his hand on the Great Ball. “Well…I guess that wouldn’t be such a bad idea. I mean, I’m probably going to end up using him sometime later….” He unclipped the Great Ball and gave it a gentle toss, releasing the Slugma.

The magma slug Pokémon looked around at his surroundings before looking up at Brendan, blinking.

“Hi.” Brendan got down in a crouch. “I’m Brendan. I’m your Trainer.”

The Slugma blinked a couple times. “Okay. Name?”

“He’s wondering about his name,” Crystal translated.

Brendan looked at Crystal and nodded his thanks before looking back at his new Pokémon. “I’ve decided to call you Mac. Is that okay?”

The Pokémon bobbed his head, and Brendan smirked.

“Okay.” Brendan rose to his feet. “I know that the two of you met before, but this is Zuzu, my first Pokémon. I have two others on our team – Lily, a Linoone and Taylor, a Tailow. I have them in their PokeBalls right now, but I’ll make sure that you can meet them later.”

Mac bobbed his head again.

“Okay. We go?”

“Yeah, we’re going.” Crystal nodded. “Got any good-byes to say?”

Mac shook his head.

“All right then.” Brendan smirked, then started towards the other side of the Fiery Path. Zuzu and Mac kept on either side of him as Crystal followed after them, Ando, Richie, and Samuel moving to her sides and as a rear guard of sorts.

It wasn’t too long before the group was out of the Fiery Path, stepping out into the sunlight and fresh, cooler air.

Mac’s body shivered a little at the cooler air. Zuzu caught sight of it and looked like he wanted to snicker, but one look from Crystal caused him to hold it in.

“It’s going to take a little bit to get used to,” Richie said to Mac, “but you should be all right, right?”

The Slugma seemed to pause, but his magma body continued to bubble and shift as he stayed in place. Mac gave a nod. “I’ll be okay.”

Brendan looked around, then behind and up. “Hey, Crystal – have a look.”

Crystal turned and followed Brendan’s gaze, and her eyes widened a little when she saw the rock towering high above their heads. “Whoa. We’re on the other side of the volcano!”

“Yup.” Brendan looked over at Crystal. “See that gray cloud that’s moving northwest of us from the top of Mt. Chimney? That’s probably the ash that the Hiker warned us about.”

Crystal nodded, eyeing the gray mass that was slowly rising up from the top of the volcano. “Definitely looks like it. We’re probably going to end up running into some as we keep going to Fallarbor.” She gave Brendan a curious frown. “It is up that way, right?”

“I think so.” Brendan frowned a little then pulled his backpack off his shoulders and opened one of the pockets. “Hang on – I’ve got a map in here somewhere…aha!” He pulled out a folded piece of paper and unfolded it from a small rectangle to a large map of the entire region. “Here we go.”

“Wow. Where did you get that map?” Crystal blinked in surprise. “I’ve got one on the PokeNav, but I haven’t really been using it….”

“You got a PokeNav?” Brendan looked at Crystal with wide eyes. “For real? Wow, you’re really lucky!” He motioned to the map. “I got this in Rustboro. They were having a sale on them, so I figured that I’d go ahead and grab once, since I don’t have a PokeNav to tell me where I’m going.”

“So, where are we?” Crystal peered over at the map curiously as Brendan looked it over.

“Well, we’re to the north and west, so…right about here.” Brendan pointed to a spot that was north of the desert. “We’re going to have to head north and west in order to get to Fallarbor, and it looks like the routes that take us there take a sharp turn up ahead.” Brendan started folding up the map. “So, all we have to do is stay on the path, and we should be able to get there, no problem.”

“Sounds good.” Crystal smiled brightly. “Let’s get going, then.”

Brendan nodded in agreement as the map disappeared back in his backpack. “Right. And let’s keep an eye out for Trainers – there may be people from Fallarbor who are training all the way out here.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less from Trainers,” Crystal replied. She looked at her team. “You hear that, guys? We’re probably going to end up running into some Trainers all the way out here, so be ready for a challenge!”

“Right!” Richie nodded in response while Samuel gave a large grin.

“I’m looking forward to this,” Samuel added. He started jumping from foot to foot. “I haven’t been able to really fight like this yet!”

“Well, hopefully, you’ll get that chance,” Crystal responded, laughing. “Come on – let’s go and have a look around to see if there are any Trainers around here.”

“Did I just hear that right? You’re looking for challengers?”

Brendan and Crystal turned when they heard the unfamiliar voice, and they caught sight of a young man and young woman with green hair standing a short distance away from them.

“We’re Trainers from Fallarbor,” the young man – the one who had gotten their attention – explained. “I’m guessing you two are traveling there?”

“Yeah.” Brendan nodded. “We had been planning on going to Lavaridge, but the Cable Car’s out, so we’re heading up to Fallarbor to do some training.”

“That, and I’d heard that a man named Professor Cozmo lives up there,” Crystal added. “I was hoping if I could ask him about a Dawn Stone for Richie, my Kirlia.”

Richie gave a bow when the two Trainers looked over at him.

The woman gave a chuckle. “That’s a pretty cute Pokémon you’ve got there. Can it fight?”

“He can,” Crystal replied, stressing the pronoun a little. “And I’d be willing to take a challenge in order to prove it.”

The two Trainers exchanged looks before looking at the two of them with confident smirks.

“You two really think you can take us on?” the young man asked. “You’re just kids.”

Crystal’s invisible ears flicked back at that particular statement.

“I’ve already got two Badges,” Brendan said, taking a step forward. Zuzu followed his lead, a frown on his face as he tried to look menacing.

“And I’ve got three,” Crystal added. “Can you say the same?”

The two Trainers exchanged looks of surprise.

“Well, if you have five Badges between the two of you, I guess we could take you up on that search for a challenge.” The young man gave a grin. “I’m Wilton, and this is my sister, Brooke. Let’s see if the two of you can take the two of us on in a Double Battle match.”

Wilton and Brooke tossed their PokeBalls, releasing a Wingull and an Electrike.

“Richie.” Crystal gave the Kirlia a nod, and he took a step forward.

Zuzu started to move forward himself, but Brendan put an arm in front of the Pokémon.

“Let’s let Mac take this one as his first match,” Brendan suggested, looking down at the Slugma.

“Me?” Mac blinked a couple times, looking up at Brendan with a surprised expression. When Brendan gave a nod, the Slugma moved in front of his Trainer, leaving a burn track on the ground.

“This is going to be easy.” Wilton grinned

“Electrike, use Bite on the Kirlia!”

“Mac, Rock Throw that mutt!” Brendan barked in response.

“Richie, Disarming Voice!” Crystal ordered.

“Supersonic!” Brooke responded.

Wingull opened his mouth and started to let out a loud shriek, but Richie’s pure-sounding tones caught the Water/Flying-Type by surprise and caused the Supersonic to miss. Not but a moment later, the Electrike had launched himself at Richie and bitten down on his leg, causing him to cry out in pain.

Crystal flinched back when she saw the sight, looking less than enthused about what it was that her opponent’s Pokémon was doing.

Then Mac threw a rock at Electrike, forcing him to release Richie.

“Richie, are you okay?” Crystal asked worriedly.

“I’m fine.” Richie rubbed his leg, where he had been bitten, and hissed a little bit from the pain. “Ow….”

“Mac, finish that Pokémon off,” Brendan directed, motioning to Electrike.

Mac bobbed his head, then seemed to take in a breath as a rock appeared above his head It was promptly shot towards the Electric-Type, which took the hit and stumbled back.

“Richie – the Wingull,” Crystal directed quickly.

“R-right.” Richie nodded, then took in a breath before releasing another pure-sounding note, which sent the Wingull reeling before falling in slow circles to the ground.

At the same time, Electrike collapsed, a rock on top of his head.

Brook returned the Wingull, frowning. “Okay. Not bad.”

Wilton nodded in agreement as he returned Electrike. “Yeah. But it’s not over yet! Makuhita, go!”

“Roselia, go!”

Crystal blinked at the familiarity of the Fighting-Type that Wilton had, and frowned at the Pokémon that Brooke had brought out. “Roselia…? I don’t think I’ve seen a Pokémon like that before.”

“You haven’t?” Brendan looked at her in surprise. “That’s a Pokémon that lives down by Verdenturf. They’re Grass and Poison-Types.”

“Really? Huh.” Crystal looked back at the two Pokémon in front of them. “Okay…Richie, Confusion on the Makuhita.”

“Right!” Richie gave a nod, then focused on his psychic powers. Crystal instantly saw Makuhita flinch when the attack managed to hit him, and the Pokémon wavered for a minute, trying to stay upright, only to fail and completely collapsed.

“Mac, Ember!” Brendan directed.

Mac whipped his head, sending a small amount of flames from his eyebrows straight for the Roselia, who tried to move past them, only one of the Pokémon’s rose-hands were burned by the move. The Pokémon cried out in pain and shook the rose in order to get the burn off, but it didn’t look like the Roselia was having all that much help.

“Wailmer, go!” Wilton threw out a PokeBall as he returned the Makuhita, releasing a ball of a Pokémon that was blue on the top and white on the bottom. “Soak that Slugma!”

“Richie!”

“I know!” Richie didn’t even look back at Crystal as the Magical Leaf formed around him and was sent flying towards Wailmer.

“Keep going with that Ember.” Brendan nodded to Mac.

“Poison Sting that Kirlia!” Brooke ordered.

Crystal’s ears flicked back as Mac sent another Ember at the Roselia, sending the Pokémon reeling. Meanwhile, the Magical Leaf was slammed into the Wailmer while an attack was about to come out of his mouth. The Wailmer was sent rolling back, the water attack shooting up into the air as the Pokémon lay there limply.

Richie took a step back in surprise. “Whoa! I didn’t think that I’d be able to take him down that much!”

“Wow, you’re really trained your Kirlia well,” Wilton said in approval, returning his Wailmer. “I didn’t think that a Trainer as young as you would be able to take me out."

Roselia let out a cry of pain and fell back to the ground – or, the Pokémon would have, if Brooke hadn’t returned Roselia to its PokeBall.

“Not bad is right,” Brooke agreed. “But I’m not done yet! Let’s go, Numel!”

Brook’s PokeBall exploded open, releasing the same Pokémon that Crystal had seen Maxie show them a little while earlier.

“Okay.” Crystal nodded to Richie. “You ready for this?”

Richie nodded. “Yeah.”

“Then let’s take him down with a Confusion!”

“Mac, Rock Throw!” Brendan directed.

“Numel, Magnitude!”

The Numel reared up on its hind legs as Richie and Mac both fired off their attacks, hitting him at the exact same time. The enemy Pokémon tried to stay upright to fire off the attack, but taking two attacks at once was too much for the Pokémon, causing it to collapse.

Richie let out a sigh of relief, putting a hand to his chest and relaxing. “I’m glad we’re done. That bite was a little scary.”

“Yeah.” Crystal came down in a crouch, pulling out one of her medicine spray bottles. “Let me have a look and fix you up.”

Richie extended the leg that the Electrike had bitten, and Crystal sprayed the bite mark while Brendan stepped towards Wilton and Brooke.

“You guys are pretty good,” Brendan commented. “Maybe you should take the League challenge like we are.”

“We have been thinking about it,” Brooke admitted, looking over at Wilton. “We just haven’t traveled down to that area of the region yet.”

“You probably should,” Brendan responded. “You’ll be able to run into a lot more Pokémon that way.”

Wilton grinned. “Yeah, that’s a definite. Give us a couple days to come up with a final decision, and you just might see us hanging out somewhere else in Hoenn sometime.”

“Where were you two heading again?” Brooke interjected. “Fallarbor?”

Crystal finished spraying Richie’s bite wound, watching as the marks healed.

Brendan nodded. “Yeah.”

“Make sure to keep your mouths covered with something. Here – I’ve got a couple extra bandannas you can use.” Brook handed Brendan a pair of bandannas, colored in a red and green pattern. “Cover your mouths – and return your Pokémon, too. You don’t want ash to get in their lungs.”

“Thanks.” Brendan handed a bandanna to Crystal, who accepted it with a nod of her own. “Good luck training, you two.”

“The same to you,” Wilton replied cheerily. He gave a relaxed salute. “Good luck heading to Fallarbor.”

Crystal and Brendan gave nods in response before starting back down the route again, their Pokémon following after them.


	42. Chapter 42

Crystal looked at the route that was ahead of them. “Wow…I didn’t think that the ash would look so much like snow.”

Brendan tied his bandanna around his face. “And it isn’t exactly friendly stuff, either. You remember what they said, right?”

“Yeah.” Crystal nodded, then turned and looked at her Pokémon. “Okay, you guys – you’re going to have to get in your PokeBalls so that we can get through this. I don’t want any of you getting hurt by the ash.”

Ando clicked his claws together, then disappeared into his PokeBall in a red stream of light.

“I definitely don’t want to get burned by that stuff,” Samuel muttered, frowning up at the dark clouds that were ahead of them. “Think there are Trainers out there?”

“If there are, they hopefully won’t be prepared for a fight in the ash,” Crystal replied. She tied her own bandanna around her mouth and nose, adding, “They wouldn’t want to put their Pokémon in danger of that stuff.”

Samuel nodded, then disappeared into his own PokeBall.

“Be careful,” Richie added, looking up at Crystal with a concerned expression.

“I will be,” Crystal promised in reply. “Don’t worry, okay? We’ll get through this and come out in Fallarbor before you know it.”

Richie hesitated, then smiled a little and gave a nod before he disappeared into his own PokeBall.

“Ready?” Brendan asked, Mac and Zuzu disappearing into their respective PokeBalls as he spoke.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Crystal replied with a shrug.

“Okay.” Brendan gave a nod. “Let’s go.” He started walking forward, stepping into the falling cloud of ash as Crystal followed after him.

Almost instantly, the Hoenn native noticed that Crystal was going to have a problem.

“Uh, Crystal?” Brendan paused and pointed up at the space above Crystal’s head. “I don’t think you’re going to be able to keep your illusion up here.”

Crystal – who had been in the process of reaching up for the exact same area – paused and looked over at Brendan as some invisible thing stopped a few specs of ash right in their tracks – almost as though they were frozen in mid-air right above her head. “What do you mean?”

“Ash doesn’t just float above people’s heads like that.” Brendan’s eyes seemed to convey that he was looking sheepish. “They’re sticking to your ears.”

Crystal reached up and brushed the ash away from her invisible ears, then turned slightly and looked at something that was behind her. “They’re sticking to my tail, too – I can feel the warmth from the ash.” She reached over and brushed away the specs that were clinging to her invisible tail. “Well, this is going to make things difficult. I wish I’d brought a coat with a hood –“ She paused for a moment, and her eyes brightened. “That’s it!”

Crystal reached into her backpack and pulled out her pink jacket, then brushed the specs of ash off her arms before pulling it on. Making sure that there wasn’t any on her ears, she pulled up the hood of the jacket before reaching back and grasping thin air and pulling it under her clothes.

“This is going to feel weird, but I think I’ll be able to handle it until we get to Fallarbor,” Crystal commented. Something shifted under the back of her jacket, and Brendan caught sight of her tail curling around. Crystal made a face in response to the movement. "I've never really liked having to do this. My tail isn't supposed to be in this position for long."

Brendan shrugged. “I’m afraid that I can’t really be all that much help.”

“It’s fine,” Crystal replied. “I’ll be able to survive this. It’s not like it’s going to be permanent. We just have to keep going before I get to be really uncomfortable.”

“All right.” Brendan nodded. “Sounds good. Let’s keep moving.”

Crystal nodded in agreement, then turned and started walking forward again, Brendan keeping pace with her. “I wonder how far it is to Fallarbor…we’ve only just gotten into the ash….”

“The map I’ve got wouldn’t exactly help us with figuring out how far we are on the route,” Brendan commented, looking somewhat sheepish. “We’re probably not very far in, so we’re probably going to deal with this stuff for a while.”

“Yeah.” Crystal was tempted to raise her eyes to the sky, but the ash that had fallen on her already felt pretty warm – maybe her eyes would get hit and damaged somehow if she did look up. “I just hope that my tail won’t be revealed before then, because it really wants to get out from under my jacket.”

“Hiya!”

A little purple blur suddenly came flying in from out of nowhere, aiming for Crystal and Brendan. The two of them managed to dodge before the figure could have managed to hit them, and the figure went skidding across the ground, throwing up large clouds of ash that almost seemed to hang in the air – even as the small tufts started falling towards the ground.

“Good reflexes for Trainers who rely on their Pokémon!” A little redhead boy got up from the crouch he had landed in and turned to look at Crystal and Brendan with a proud – almost smug – grin on his face. “But I bet you won’t be able to beat my Pokémon in battle!”

“With all this ash?” Crystal blinked in surprise. “I don’t think that I should risk it. The Pokémon could –“

“You’re telling me that you don’t have Pokémon that don’t need to breathe?” the boy demanded. “It’s required of every ninja that they have a Pokémon that won’t take oxygen that you might need on a mission! Come on!”

“Well, I don’t think that Mac needs to breathe…..” Brendan frowned. “Maybe. I’m not exactly sure of what exactly makes a Slugma a Pokémon and not just a puddle of magma.”

“Slugma live up here,” the ninja boy offered. “They’re just fine – same with the Spinda, Sandshrew, and Skarmory.”

“Well, that’s all well and fine for them, but I don’t think that my Pokémon would be able to handle the area too well.” Crystal shook her head. “I have a Kirlia, a Breloom, and an Anorith. The Breloom definitely wouldn’t like this place very much -- I can tell you that much, at least.”

The ninja boy scowled. “Hmph. Great, and I thought that all Trainers around here had Poison-Types like Koffing and Grimer.”

“Well, we aren’t from the area,” Brendan replied. “We’re heading to Fallarbor from Mauville, actually.”

“Mauville?! Wow, that’s pretty far away!” The ninja boy gawked in shock and surprise before shaking his head and gaining a confident grin again. “Okay! Allow me to escort you to Fallarbor personally!”

“An escort?” Crystal blinked in surprise while the ears under her hood stiffened up a little.

The ninja boy nodded. “Yeah! It’s obvious that you guys don’t know your way around here, so I’ll just go ahead and get you guys straight to Fallarbor and avoid all the ninja traps that we’ve got set up around here for sneaking practice. Come on.” He pulled up the purple bandanna that had been lying around his neck, and he started walking along the path ahead of Crystal and Brendan. The two Trainers exchanged looks, then followed after him.

“My name’s Nate, by the way,” the ninja boy called back. “I’m a ninja in training!”

“I’m Brendan, and this is Crystal.” Brendan motioned to himself and Crystal in turn. “We’re Trainers taking on the League challenge.”

“What? Really?” Nate turned and started walking backwards, an expression of surprise in his wide eyes. “That’s so cool! I guess you’re going to Lavaridge next?” He frowned. “But this isn’t the way there….”

“The Cable Car’s out, so we’re going to take care of something else and do a little training so that we’re ready when it’s back in working order,” Crystal explained.

“Oh.” Nate blinked, then nodded. “Okay. Gotcha. What are you doing?”

“I wanted to talk to Professor Cozmo about something – I’ve got a Kirlia who wants to evolve into a Gallade, but I need a Dawn Stone first. Maybe Cozmo knows where I can find one.”

“Oh! Then it might be a good idea if you just went straight to Meteor Falls.”

“Meteor Falls?” Brendan repeated.

“Where’s that?” Crystal cocked her head to one side curiously.

“It’s a cave south of Fallarbor. Teacher’s brother likes to go down there a lot with Professor Cozmo.” Nate sounded extremely proud.

“Teacher? You have a ninja teacher?” Brendan arched an eyebrow.

“I know that there’s a family of ninjas in Kanto,” Crystal remarked. “Koga and Janine live in Fuchsia – Koga makes regular trips to the Elite Four as a part of his job, and his daughter Janine runs the Gym. Is your teacher related to them?”

Nate shook his head. “Eros talks about them, but he isn’t related to them. He looks up to them, though.”

“Really?” Brendan looked interested. “Where is he now?”

Meanwhile, Crystal had stiffened in surprise. _Eros? Wasn’t that the name of the Trainer who I found in the Petalburg Woods?_

“Eros is out on a journey of his own,” Nate explained, not noticing the look that had come over Crystal’s face. “We haven’t really heard from him since he left, but we think that he’s doing all right.”

“Oh? Okay, then." Brendan nodded. "What about his brother?”

“Teacher’s brother is only interested in Rock-Types.” Nate frowned, almost seeming to give the appearance that he was scowling. “He’s not interested in being a ninja at all.”

“Huh.”

**Time Break**

Nate led Crystal and Brendan around the route in such a crazy pattern that Crystal wondered if he was doing it just to mess with them. Eventually, however, they managed to get out of the falling ash and onto what looked like a small stretch of farmland, with buildings in the distance.

“Here we are!” Nate announced with a sweeping motion. “Fallarbor!”

Crystal looked around the area, smiling a little as she pulled down her bandanna. “There’s no ash in the air. I was wondering if there was going to be any around the town.”

“Sometimes there is, sometimes there isn’t.” Nate shrugged. “It depends on the day and how the wind’s blowing. Today is just one of those days that the ash isn’t on top of the town.”

“Thanks for getting us here,” Brendan said, nodding to Nate. “I don’t think we would have been able to make it through that route without running into Trainers, and I don’t think that our Pokémon would have been able to take the environment really well.”

“There’s a chance that the ash will move sometime later, so you could go back and fight the Trainers there, if you want.” Nate shrugged. “It’s up to you. I’m going to head back there to do some more training, so maybe I’ll see you later.”

With that, Nate adjusted his bandanna and backflipped back into a tree that was behind them, disappearing from sight into a resulting disruption of ash.

Crystal blinked a couple times, then looked over at Brendan. “Well, we should probably visit the Pokémon Center. I’m going to need directions to Professor Cozmo’s house, so I might be able to find my way there.”

“I think I’ll ask around and see if there is anyone who wants to challenge me,” Brendan commented, grinning. “I mean, there might be people in Fallarbor waiting for the ash to move somewhere else, so they might be good accepting a challenge from me.”

“All right, then.” Crystal gave a smile and a thumbs-up. “Good luck with that.”

“Thanks!” Brendan gave Crystal a grin, then turned and ran for the buildings in the distance. Crystal followed after him a moment later, laughing to herself.

It didn’t take her too long to find the Pokémon Center and had her Pokémon checked out to make sure that they were doing all right.

“Do you know where Professor Cozmo lives?” Crystal asked as she accepted the three PokeBalls that made up her team.

Nurse Joy paused at the question. “Professor Cozmo? His lab is right here in town. Just look for the observatory on the roof of his house, and you should be able to find him.”

“All right. Thanks.” Crystal gave the nurse a nod before exiting the Pokémon Center. She looked around for a moment before finding the building that Nurse Joy had been talking about. In no time, she was starting over towards the building with a confident step.

That confident step faltered when she saw a young woman standing in the open doorway of the building, looking nervous and panicked.

“What is it?” Crystal asked, coming over with a concerned expression. When the woman looked at her with an expression of surprise, Crystal added, “You look like you’re worried about something. Is there something wrong?”

The woman hesitated, but then she nodded. “A group of oddly-dressed people took off with Professor Cozmo not too long ago. They went out to Meteor Falls talking about looking for a meteorite, and they haven’t come back since.” She wrung her hands together. “And they all looked so menacing, but as soon as they said they were looking for a meteorite, Cozmo was more than happy to help. I can’t help but feel worried about him.”

“You said they were oddly dressed?” Crystal frowned, cocking her head to one side. “How oddly?”

“Well, it looked like they were all wearing emerald costumes, and there was some kind of strange symbol – it almost looked like a mountain with a skull-and-crossbones symbol over the top.”

Crystal’s frown deepened. “That sounds familiar…where’ve I –“ Her eyes widened a moment later, and she looked the woman with a sense of urgency. “Which way is Meteor Falls?”

“Out of town that way and to the south.” The woman motioned to the side of town that Crystal hadn’t come from. “Are you going after them?”

Crystal nodded. “Yeah. I’ve faced people like what you’ve described before. Cozmo’s in danger!”

The woman paled. “He is?!”

“Yeah! I’m going to get him away from those people! Wait here!” Crystal took off running right on the heels of her exclamation, leaving the woman standing in the open doorway before she could give Crystal a response.


	43. Chapter 43

When Crystal reached a bridge going across a large lake, she released her team.

Samuel looked around. “Where are we? Still heading to Fallarbor?”

“No; we’re on the other side of it.” Crystal pointed across the bridge. “Professor Cozmo has gone into Meteor Falls with a group of people that probably are a part of Team Magnus. Anyway, we need to go after him so that we can get info on the Dawn Stone.”

“Probably Team Magnus?” Richie repeated. “Are you sure?”

“Pretty sure.” Crystal nodded. “The woman who told me about the people he took off with, and they sound a lot like Magnus people. You remember the people who were in the Oceanic museum?”

Ando clicked his claws. “Those red and blue people with the mountains and skulls.”

Crystal nodded again. “The woman mentioned that the people had mountains with skull-and-crossbones in front of them on their uniforms. I don’t know what it is that they’re planning, but it’s probably not very good. Are you guys ready?”

The three Pokémon exchanged looks, then looked back at Crystal and nodded.

Crystal gave a nod of approval. “Good. Let’s go.”

The group ran down the bridge towards what looked like a small mountain at the end of the route. A group of fishermen they passed looked up at her in irritation, but they didn’t yell at her and her Pokémon. They got passed a building that had a lot of antennae sticking up from the roof, and then they hit the taller, rougher patches of grass.

Crystal slowed her pace. “Okay…we’re going to have to be more careful here. I hope the Pokémon haven’t been set off by anything that those Magnus people have done.”

Samuel grinned. “If there are any Pokémon around here, then I’ll take care of them no problem. One Mach Punch to the face and wham!”

Crystal chuckled at her Breloom’s antics, but then she gained a more serious expression. “We don’t want to cause too much trouble. Don’t try to start any fights that we don’t need to, okay?”

Samuel scowled a little. “Fine.”

“Come on – we’ve got to get moving if we’re going to catch up to them.” Crystal started forward into the grass and pulled down her hood as her tail wiggled out from under her jacket. The illusion flickered for a moment before the pink ears and tail faded from sight again. “I just hope they haven’t done anything to Cozmo.”

“I hope so, too,” Richie agreed, nodding. He paused a moment later. “Uh, Crystal…? Something feels wrong.”

Crystal paused, then looked back at the Kirlia, frowning. “Something feels….” She trailed off as her ears twitched back, and her eyes widened. “Oh. I see. There’s a lot of tension in the air – almost like we’ve stepped into the middle of something.” Crystal started turning slowly, looking around as her eyes flickered a brighter shade of blue. “I hope that there aren’t any Magnus people around….”

“It isn’t those weird-looking people.”

Crystal turned, blinking, and noticed that there was a little blue ball of a Pokémon with cotton-like wings. “Really? Then what is it?”

“There are a couple Pokémon around here that fight over territory,” the Pokémon explained. “Zangoose and Seviper. We’re all kinda used to it, but today it’s really bad.”

“How bad?”

There came a snarling noise from somewhere nearby, and Crystal and the other Pokémon were forced to jump back as a white-and-red, four legged Pokémon with large claws leapt from a grass patch near them. The Pokémon landed and looked like he was ready to lash out at anything, but then he paused and rose onto his hind legs, scowling.

“You guys aren’t Seviper,” the Pokémon muttered. “But you’re strangers, and you’re in my territory. What are you doing here?”

“We’re going to Meteor Falls,” Crystal replied. “I don’t mean to intrude—“

“Nah, you’re fine.” The Zangoose waved off Crystal’s concern. “It’s obvious you’re a Trainer – even if you do smell weird.” He frowned. “But there was a weird human who had his hair shaped like a crescent moon, and he smelled weird, too. You wouldn’t happen to be with him and his buddies, would you?”

“No way!” Richie burst out. “We’re going to stop them!”

“Stop them?”

“They’re part of a group called Magnus,” Crystal explained. “They’ve been causing trouble for both Pokémon and humans. We’re worried that they may be up to something here.”

“Really? Well, if they happen to be the reason there’s so many Rock-Types around, then you’re right about that.” The Zangoose’s claws clicked together as his long ears twitched. “You mind getting rid of those? They’re getting in on our territory and are really ripping things up around here. The Seviper look like they could care less about it, and we can’t really do all that much.”

“Rock-Types…?” Crystal frowned. “Okay. We’ll see what we can do – about them and Magnus. If what I’m thinking right now is right, then if we get rid of the humans, the Pokémon should disappear, to.”

“Do what you want; just get rid of them.” The white and red Pokémon pointed towards the wall of rock at the end of the route. “The humans entered the cave up there. The humans call it Meteor Falls, but we call it—“

A low hissing noise sounded from somewhere nearby, causing the Zangoose to turn sharply. A moment later, he had leapt back into the tall grass, yowling loudly.

Crystal blinked for a moment, then let out a sigh and turned to look at the little bird Pokémon. “We should get going; I’ve got a group of humans to put a stop to.”

The bird Pokémon bobbed her head. “Thank you.” She unfurled her cotton wings and took off towards the lake.

“Let’s get going,” Samuel said determinedly. “I’m looking forward to running into those Rock-Types.” He grinned widely.

“Of course you are,” Crystal responded, nodding and smiling a little. That smile disappeared a moment later, however. “Come on; let’s get over to Meteor Falls and see if we can find out why it is that Magnus is around.”

Her Pokémon nodded in agreement, then started deeper into the grass, Crystal keeping in step with them as they got closer to the rocky ridge that was ahead of them. If there were any other Pokémon in the area, they made no sudden movements or cries that would have gotten them noticed; Crystal wondered if it was possible that they were hiding from the Zangoose and Seviper that the little cloud-like Pokémon had mentioned, but then remembered that the little Pokémon had said they were all used to it.

“Hey, fellas! We’ve got a stupid kid coming through here!”

Crystal turned her head when she heard the unfamiliar voice, blinking for a moment before her eyes widened out of surprise when she saw the number of Pokémon moving in front of them. “Graveler!”

“All right!” Samuel jumped from one foot to the other, grinning. “I’ll take ‘em out!”

The Breloom lunged forward, and his right arm stretched out suddenly and slammed it into a Graveler’s face, sending the Pokémon rolling back. Samuel didn’t stop stretching out his arms, either – he kept right on going, slamming his hoof-like paws into the Graveler before they could even have a chance to attack or retaliate. It didn’t take too long before the Rock/Ground-Types fell to the ground and became completely limp.

Samuel smirked and pulled back, still hopping from foot to foot. “That felt great! I wanna find another group!”

“We need to get to Meteor Falls, remember?” Crystal responded. “If we run into anymore groups, you can take them, but we can’t afford to stick around for too long --- Cozmo might be in danger.”’

“Right, right.” Samuel relaxed a little before giving Crystal an impatient look. “Come on, then – let’s go!”

Crystal gave a nod in agreement, then turned and started running towards carved steps in the rock ahead of them.

They didn’t run into any more trouble from other Pokémon on the way to the cave, which Crystal found rather eerie. There weren’t even any Trainers standing nearby, which Crystal supposed was probably because of the Zangoose and Seviper.

“There’s a cave over here!” Richie pointed towards a hole in the wall. “Think that’s Meteor Falls?”

“Maybe?” Crystal looked around for a moment longer, then started walking forward. “It doesn’t look like there are any other entrances, so that must be it. I hope they haven’t set up any traps or anything like that.”

“Let’s see them try.” Samuel grinned widely and snickered.

Crystal smiled a little, but then she gained a more serious expression as she started towards the cave entrance. Her ears flicked forward as she paused at the entrance, frowning. Then she stepped the rest of the way inside, her Pokémon following close behind her.

Inside the cave, Crystal nearly stopped in shock and awe when she saw the almost golden color that the cave had – right down to the stalactites and stalagmites that clung to the walls.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking of doing with that Meteorite, but I’m not planning on letting you get away with it!”

Crystal turned her head when she heard the unfamiliar voice, and her eyes widened slightly. “Are those Pokémon…the sun and moon?”

“Sol! Luna!” yelled a black-haired young man wearing a dark green jacket that looked like it was made of leather. “Rock Slide them!”

The two floating, rock-like sun and moon glowed brightly; a pile of rocks suddenly materialized in thin air before falling and colliding with two Pokémon that looked like medium-sized blue boulders with red crystals attached to their backs.

A man and a woman standing behind the two Pokémon – wearing what looked like green boulder spikes on their shoulders, matching the color of the rest of their uniform – gained snarling expressions.

“You are really starting to get annoying,” the woman commented.

Crystal blinked for a moment, quickly taking in the people and their Pokémon before looking down at her own team. “Ando, Richie – Water Gun and Magical Leaf!”

The two Pokémon instantly launched into action, shooting the two attacks at the two blue rock Pokémon that were standing next to each other. The energized leaves and blast of water caused the two rock Pokémon to collapse.

The young man with the sun and moon Pokémon turned and looked at Crystal in surprise, green eyes widening slightly. “Who’re you supposed to be?”

“I’m Crystal,” Crystal responded, coming forward while the man and the woman exchanged looks of surprise. “I’d heard that Professor Cozmo was here with these guys and I came to see if I could do anything to help.”

“Well thanks, but I don’t think that you’re going to really be able to do anything—“

“That’s the girl we heard about!” the woman suddenly burst out, pointing an accusing finger at Crystal. “You’re the girl who’s been doing all that stuff to the other units!”

“You’re what?” the man looked at Crystal in surprise.

Crystal shrugged, nodding a little. “Yup. That’s me.”

The man and the woman looked panicked at Crystal’s statement before looking at each other. Quickly returning the Pokémon they had brought, they turned and ran deeper into the cave.

The young man looked between Crystal and where the people had run off before finally saying something. “You’ve run into these guys before? And scared them that much?”

“Yeah.” Crystal nodded.

Richie tugged on her jacket sleeve. “Shouldn’t we be going after them?”

_“Indeed, we should.”_

Crystal turned, blinking when she saw that the sun and moon Pokémon were looking at the two of them.

 _“Those people do have an air of trustworthiness,”_ added the voice as the sun Pokémon moved forward.

Crystal blinked again. “Are you…Rock and Psychic-Types?”

“These two are my prized Pokémon – Sol and Luna.” The young man motioned to himself. “I’m Zack. I was training in the area when Cozmo went to Meteor Falls with those guys. I was planning on going in after them in order to figure out what was going on and I got held up by those two.”

“Okay.” Crystal looked to her left and blinked when she noticed that there was a passage leading away from the main cavern, and it looked like it had been dug out recently. “It looks like they went down that way…they probably dug that out heading to somewhere.”

Zack nodded. “Yeah. Cozmo found that a few days ago and said there were a bunch of interesting rocks in there. I hope that they haven’t done anything in there.”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out.” Crystal looked down at her Pokémon and gave them a nod. “You guys ready to go?”

Samuel nodded, grinning, while Richie gained a determined expression on his face.

“Those people have desecrated this place,” Ando said, catching Zack by surprise. “We should stop them.” With that, he started moving towards the cave, Crystal and the other Pokémon following after him.

Zack had a dumbfounded expression, then shook his head and started after them, Sol and Luna on his heels. “H-hey! Wait up!”


	44. Chapter 44

When Crystal, Zack, and their Pokémon came out of the man-made tunnel in the wall and arrived in the cavern that was on the other side, they were met with the unexpected sight of a group of people standing around what looked like a column of rock. Only, this particular rock was a dark purple, rather than the bright gold that Meteor Falls had everywhere for some reason.

And then there were the people standing around it – the haggard-looking man and woman that Crystal had beaten a little bit earlier, a nervous man wearing a lab coat and glasses, and a frowning boy with blond hair that was – oddly enough – shaped into what looked like a giant crescent moon on top of his head. And then there was the green gem embedded in the center of his forehead.

“Th-there she is, boss!” the woman pointed over at Crystal and Zack with a panicked expression. “It’s that girl!”

The boy turned his head, following the woman’s pointing finger. His eyes widened a moment later before he gained a confident smirk. “I didn’t think we were going to be able to get any attention from you, since we’re all the way up in this backwater town.”

“I happened to be coming up this way when I’d heard you’d taken off with the man that I wanted to talk to.” Crystal looked over at the man with the lab coat, who seemed to be rather shaken. “It was either here or Lavaridge, and the Cable Car was out.” She smirked. “I’m counting myself lucky that I managed to run into you here, Magnus.”

The boy scowled. “My name is Emerald, and there’s no way that you’re going to stop what I’ve gotta do!” He tossed out a PokeBall, releasing a large, green lizard with a tail that looked like a number of spines had been stuck together.

The Pokémon gave a lazy yawn and looked at Crystal and Zack, the latter of whom had a shocked looked on his face. “Oh. A challenge, huh? It’s been a while since I’ve had one of those.”

“That Sceptile…” Zack looked over at Emerald’s. “That was—“

“Yeah, he was my dad’s. So what?” Emerald scowled.

Crystal looked between the two of them. “You guys know each other?”

Zack nodded. “Yeah. Emerald…he lived in Fallarbor, but after his dad had an accident, he disappeared.” He frowned. “I didn’t think that you’d join up with the group that’s been causing trouble all over the region!”

Emerald’s scowl deepened at Zack’s exclamation. “So what if I am? What’s it to you?”

“Why are you doing this? You’re just a kid!”

Crystal closed one eye as they flashed a brighter blue, and her illusion flickered as her ears shot up out of surprise.

Emerald gritted his teeth. “Why you—“

“Ando, Water Gun him!” Crystal ordered.

Ando raised his claws before shooting a stream of water from his hidden mouth, catching Emerald by surprise as he jumped back, clothes and hair now soaked.

As Emerald’s hair fell and lost his crescent shape, his shocked expression quickly became one of anger. “Sceptile! Get the girl!”

Sceptile frowned at that. “Are you sure? She’s just a kid.”

“That’s no kid! She’s like me, but a Psychic-Type! That’s Mewthree!”

Crystal flinched back in alarm while Zack looked at her with an expression of shock.

“You’re a what?” Zack asked.

Crystal gritted her teeth as she dropped the illusion, exposing her ears and tail while Zack’s eyes widened even further. “My name is Crystal! Don’t call me by what I am, Rock-Type!”

“Then don’t do the same thing!” Emerald shot back. “And I’m a Sudowoodo!”

Sceptile looked at Crystal in surprise before looking back at Emerald. “What? Seriously?”

“These things aren’t fake,” Crystal responded, pointing at her ears. They twitched in response to how close her finger was. “What did you think they were?”

The green Pokémon spluttered.

“Enough talking!” Emerald barked. He raised his right wrist high, causing a stone bracelet that was there to flash brightly. “Let’s go, Sceptile! It’s time too—“

Emerald was interrupted by a loud beeping noise, and the determined look on his face changed into a deep scowl.

“Are you serious?” Emerald lowered his arm and reached behind his back to pull out what looked like a bulky walkee-talkee of some kind. “What is it?”

Crystal’s ears perked as she tried to hear what exactly it was that was being said on the other side of the connection, but she was only able to hear what sounded like a bunch of gibberish.

“What?! But I was—“ Emerald was cut off by whoever was at the other end of the connection, and he let out a snarling noise. “All right; fine! Don’t treat me like I’m some preschooler!” He jammed the device in a pocket of his oversized coat and turned to look at the man in the lab coat, scowling. Then he practically flew right past him while returning Sceptile in the same motion, yelling, “We’re going to Mt. Chimney, fellas! They’re all ready for us up there now! Let’s get going before little miss Mewthree there decides to get into the fray herself!”

One of the other people that was there pulled out a piece of rope, which everyone grabbed onto. A moment later, there was a bright flash, and the group disappeared, leaving the man in the lab coat standing there with a flabbergasted expression.

Zack snarled something. “An Escape Rope! And we had them trapped, too!”

 _“We can worry about them later,”_ Sol spoke up suddenly.

 _“Professor Cozmo needs our attention more than anything else right now,”_ Luna added.

“Right!” Crystal nodded, then turned and ran towards the man, who was standing where he had been left with a wide-eyed look of shock on his face. “Hello? Professor Cozmo?”

The man didn’t respond, much less look over at Crystal in order to see who it was that had just spoken.

Zack came over and gave Cozmo a closer look. “It looks like Cozmo is in shock – probably because of Emerald showing up like he did. He should still be able to move. Think you could give me some help leading him back to Fallarbor?”

Crystal considered that for a moment, then smiled. “I’ll be able to do something that will be something a little better.” She looked over at her team. “Guys, it might be a good idea for you to get into your PokeBalls, all right?”

Samuel understood what Crystal was planning instantly. “Yup! Definitely going to do that rather than just hang onto you.” He abruptly disappeared into his PokeBall, Ando and Richie following suit a second later when they realized what it was that Crystal was implying.

Crystal took hold of one of Cozmo’s hands and held out her other to Zack, who looked at her in confusion.

“You might want to return your Pokémon, too,” Crystal said, nodding to Sol and Luna.

“What are you planning on doing?” Zack asked.

“I can teleport,” Crystal replied simply. “I can get us back to Fallarbor in no time.”

Zack blinked a couple times, then looked at his two Pokémon. “Guys?”

Sol and Luna bobbed for a moment, seeming to look at each other for a moment before they disappeared into a pair of what looked like Great Balls.

Zack swallowed, and reluctantly took hold of Crystal’s free hand. “This has got to be the strangest thing that I’ve ever done.”

Crystal smiled a little sheepishly in response. “Yeah…well, I don’t really make it a point to show this off to people.” She gained a more confident look. “All right. You ready?”

Zack hesitated, then gave a nod. “Yeah.”

“Okay! Teleport!”

Crystal concentrated on the Pokémon Center in Fallarbor, and a bright flash went off that enveloped the three. When the flash faded, the three were standing in the lobby of the Pokémon Center.

“Oh!” Nurse Joy let out a yelp of surprise. “What just—“

Crystal quickly covered up her ears and tail with an illusion. “We just got out of Meteor Falls. There was a group from Team Magnus there who had captured Professor Cozmo.”

“Team Magnus was out by Meteor Falls?” A young woman with brown hair wearing a green dress stepped away from the computer that was in the corner. “Oh, dear! I hope they didn’t break into my house and take any of my research materials!” She promptly scrambled out of the building as fast as she could.

“What happened in Meteor Falls?” Nurse Joy came around the counter and moved towards Zack, Crystal, and Cozmo.

“I’m not sure,” Crystal responded truthfully, releasing her grip on Zack’s and Cozmo’s hands.

“I think they were after a part of a meteorite,” Zack said, frowning. “And they might have gotten it. We’re going to have to hurry to Mt. Chimney if we’re going to do anything to stop Emerald from doing anything stupid.” He paused. “Although, I think he’s already doing something stupid.”

“Emerald was in Meteor Falls with Team Magnus?” Nurse Joy looked concerned. She looked over at Cozmo, and her eyes widened a moment later. “Oh, dear! It looks like Professor Cozmo is having a rather nasty case of shock! If you don’t mind, Zack, I’m going to keep him here for a while until he recovers. My Chansey can make a calming tea that should be able to help calm him down.”

Zack gave a nod. “Thank you, Nurse Joy.”

Nurse Joy gave him an absent-minded nod in response before taking Cozmo’s hand and leading him out of the lobby. As soon as she was gone, Zack turned and gave Crystal a determined look.

“Would you mind telling me what that was back there?” He motioned to the doors of the Pokémon Center.

Crystal hesitated for a moment, then said in a low voice, “I’m part Psychic-Type, so I can use those moves whenever I think that I need to. That back there was something that I needed to do in order to get us back here quickly.”

“Think you can do that in order to get the both of us to where they’re heading?”

“Both of us?” Crystal blinked in surprise. “What about the professor?”

Zack hesitated at that, and his two Great Balls exploded open, releasing Sol and Luna.

 _“She does have a point.”_ Luna bobbed up and down, looking over at Crystal. _“You have duties to take care of here, remember?”_

“Luna, I need to hunt down Emerald,” Zack pointed out in a low hiss. “He’s going to get himself deep into trouble, considering that he’s already knee deep in Magnus.” He clenched his fists tightly. “My brother needs to know about this.”

 _“I believe that Eros already does,”_ Sol spoke up. The Pokémon looked over at Crystal pointedly, causing her to stiffen a little in surprise.

“Uh….” Crystal blinked a couple times. “Well, there was someone named Eros who I met who didn’t like what a Magnus person was doing. I met him in a forest that was being poisoned.”

Zack flinched. “Yup. Definitely sounds like something my brother would be angry about. How is he doing?”

“I haven’t seen him since then. I think he’s still trying to hunt down the Trainer who did all that in the first place.”

“Then I should go and look for Emerald.”

 _“After letting Professor Cozmo know that you’re going to be gone for a while,”_ Luna added.

Crystal nodded in agreement. “Yeah. I’ll go on ahead to Mt. Chimney and see if I can find out what they’re going to do with the meteorite you mentioned.” She started to turn and head towards the door.

“Wait!” Zack ran over in front of her, holding a familiar yellow device. “Do you have a PokeNav?”

Crystal blinked at the sudden question, then nodded. “Yeah, I do.”

“Then let’s exchange numbers. You can let me know if Emerald’s up there – or if he isn’t, where you might end up seeing him next. A lot of people up here have been worried about him since his dad died and he disappeared with that Sceptile, so it would be good if you could let me know where it is that I can hunt him down. I’d like to be able to hear from my brother if you manage to find him, too.”

Crystal considered Zack’s words for a moment, then nodded. “All right. Sounds good to me.”

Zack let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks.”


	45. Mt. Chimney

As soon as Crystal stepped out of the Pokémon Center, she stood there frowning for a moment before looking up at the sky over Route 113. “There isn’t going to be enough time for me to just run straight through there to get to Mt. Chimney – they might be done with whatever it is they’re planning by the time that I get there.” She closed her eyes and took in a breath before slowly releasing it, relaxing her shoulders. “Okay. Time to Teleport to the other side of Mt. Chimney.”

Once again, Crystal focused on what she could remember of that particular area of the route, then gathered the energy she needed before burning it up. Had her eyes been open, she would have seen the world around her suddenly shift to the dark red rock that made up the base of Mt. Chimney.

“Whoa! Where did you come from?”

Crystal opened her eyes, and she looked over at the source of the voice, blinking.

“I didn’t think that a Pokémon could teleport you while staying inside their PokeBall,” the Hiker added. “Is the tech that good these days?”

Crystal smiled a little sheepishly and gave a shrug in response. “I guess so.” She looked around for a moment. “Is the Cable Car working now?”

“Yeah, actually! A group went up a moment ago. There was a kid who had a weird-looking hairdo leading the group.” The Hiker pointed to Crystal’s right; she turned in order to see where he was pointing and blinked.

“Okay. Thanks!” Crystal gave the Hiker a nod before making a dash towards the building that he had pointed out – a yellow building with a blue roof. Behind it, there was something coming down on a line of cable – a gondola of some kind, Crystal mentally guessed.

Crystal slowed as she approached the building, and she stepped through the open doorway and into the building.

“Hello.” The young woman standing in the middle of the room gave Crystal a smile. “I’m guessing you want to use the Cable Car, right?”

Crystal nodded. “Yeah.”

“All right. Right this way, please.”

The woman led Crystal to a bright yellow gondola and opened the door, letting Crystal step inside and sit down on one of the seats. After the woman had closed the door, Crystal only had to wait for a moment before the gondola shook abruptly, then started moving up.

Crystal stiffened when the gondola initially started moving, then relaxed as the ride smoothed out. “I wonder if this thing is really going to go out of order sometime. That bump there didn’t feel very good….” She noticed that the windows of the gondola showed that she had cleared the building, revealing the world outside as the gondola continued to go up.

Crystal gritted her teeth a little, then reached for her PokeBalls and released her three Pokémon.

“Whoa!” Samuel stumbled a little as the gondola rocked a little. “Where are we?”

“We’re in the Cable Car, heading up to Mt. Chimney,” Crystal explained. “It shouldn’t be too much longer before we’re all the way up to the top.”

“We’re going after the Magnus people who were in Meteor Falls?” Richie asked, blinking. He gained a more determined expression a moment later. “That means we’re going to have to fight, right?”

“Right.” Crystal nodded. “I don’t know how bad it’s going to be up there, but be ready to cover your mouths if there’s a lot of ash all over the place. I’m probably going to need your help up there, so keeping you in your PokeBalls for the entire thing would probably be a bad idea.”

The three Pokémon looked at each other in response to Crystal’s statement, then looked over at her and nodded with serious looks on their faces.

“I’m ready,” Ando said, raising his claws.

“Same here,” Richie and Samuel added.

Crystal nodded. “All right. I’m pretty sure that Emerald is going to be up there, so there are definitely going to be Rock-Types.”

Samuel grinned and lifted one of his hoof-like paws. “I’m definitely ready for that.”

Crystal gave the Breloom a small smile before looking at Ando and Richie. “If Rock-Types are the only ones that are there, then back Samuel up. Otherwise, we’ll have to see and get ready for whatever it is that’s up there. I’m planning on getting involved in this.”

The gondola hitched suddenly, and Crystal took a glance out the window. Noticing that they were back inside a building, she rose to her feet and nodded to her team. The three Pokémon nodded back in response as the door opened, revealing a young woman wearing a similar outfit to the woman who had been at the bottom of the mountain.

“My, I was wondering if we’d get any attention at all today, and then suddenly we’re getting Trainers after Trainers coming up here.” The woman stepped aside, letting Crystal and her Pokémon step out of the gondola. “Are you planning on going to Lavaridge, as well?”

“Eventually,” Crystal responded, nodding. “I’m planning on having a look at the volcano first, though.”

The woman’s expression became much more subdued. “Ah. That might not be a good idea, actually.”

Crystal frowned at that. “What do you mean?”

“W-well, there’s….” The woman hesitated.

“Is it because there’s a group there that is doing something that could be dangerous?”

Crystal’s question caught the woman by alarm, and she looked at Crystal with an expression of shock.

“Don’t worry about it,” Crystal said, smiling a little. “I’ll take care of them, okay? Just wait in here.” She walked passed the woman, leaving her standing there and looking confused and worried.

Crystal reached the open doorway of the building and looked out for a moment before frowning a little. “There’s a little ash, guys, but it’s not as much as there was on Route 113. Just be careful, okay?”

With that, Crystal stepped out onto Mt. Chimney, and was instantly hit by how _hot_ it was.

“Whoa!” Samuel shook his head as he and the others came out. “This is…wow. It _never_ got this hot in Petalburg Woods.”

Richie rubbed his forehead with one arm. “I’m already starting to sweat a lot. So this is a volcano?”

“Yeah.” Crystal’s tail twitched. “I should be used to it – there was a volcano in Kanto that I went to once…but I didn’t stay there for very long.”

“Numel, use Magnitude!”

“Hit that thing with a Rock Slide, Slugma!”

Crystal turned her head when she heard the familiar and unfamiliar voices, and her eyes widened when she saw Maxie and his Numel standing in front of a Slugma and a man wearing what looked like a red outfit that had a pair of spikes coming out of the hood that looked a lot like ears.

The thing that got her attention the most, though, was that there was a mountain-like shape on the front of the man’s uniform. It looked like there should have been something in front of it…

Crystal, quickly putting two and two together, started running forward, yelling, “Ando! Water Gun the Slugma!”

The Anorith promptly fired of the attack while Samuel and Richie followed after Crystal. The attack hit Slugma – even with the large distance that was between Ando and his target – and the Fire-Type fainted as Crystal reached Maxie.

“Hey,” Crystal gave Maxie a nod while he looked at her in surprise. “I’m surprised you managed to beat me here.”

“Crystal?” Maxie blinked at her in surprise. “How did you manage to get here so fast?”

“Teleported,” Crystal explained. Her ears twitched as something warm fell on her left ear, and she remembered that an illusion wouldn’t be able to do anything to keep her ears and tail hidden while ash was falling. Since Team Magnus already knew about her, she let the illusion drop. “You look like you could use a little help.”

“Yeah.” Maxie turned and looked at the man in red in front of him, who was looking at the two of them with an expression of shock. “When I saw these guys heading up the Cable Car, I knew that something was wrong, so I went ahead and followed them up. I didn’t think that I was going to have so much trouble against the first guy that I ran into, though. Rock is super-effective against two members of my team, and my third member isn’t quite ready for battle yet.”

Crystal nodded, frowning. “You’re going to need a move that would be able to take on the Fire-Types pretty well – and hopefully before you get hurt….”

“Didn’t Roxanne give us something that would let someone do that?” Richie asked. “She did give us a TM for beating her.”

Crystal’s eyes widened. “Oh, yeah! That might work!” She quickly grabbed a TM from her backpack and handed it over to Maxie. “Here. This is Rock Tomb.”

“Rock Tomb?” Maxie stared at the TM and looked up at Crystal. “Are you sure you want to give this to me?”

Crystal nodded. “You need it right now more than I do.” She shook the disk a little, and Maxie quickly grabbed it.

“Thanks.”

“H-hey! You’re the girl that was at the Oceanic Museum!” The Magnus grunt had finally managed to recover from his shock as he pointed at Crystal accusingly with an expression of shock. “You’re the one who’s traveling with that Electric traitor!”

Crystal turned and looked at him, ears flicking forward. “Gold left because he didn’t like what you were doing. If I was going to say anything, it would be that he made the right choice. Now, do you have any Pokémon left? Or was that Slugma it?”

The grunt gritted his teeth, then returned the Slugma that was lying collapsed in front of him. “You’re really going to get it, you know.” He started backing up, then turned and ran off – towards the volcano’s rim.

“I’m prepared for what it is that you’re going to throw at me,” Crystal responded. She looked over at Maxie. “We need to take these people out before they do something up here.”

Maxie nodded in agreement. “I heard one of them say that they were planning on setting off the volcano using a meteorite’s power to agitate the area. While that might expand the region, that would also cause a lot of problems by destroying Pokémon habitats and towns where people are living. Lavaridge and Fallarbor would definitely suffer for it.”

Crystal’s eyes widened in alarm. “Oh, no. We definitely need to stop these people before they end up doing that!” She turned and looked at her Pokémon. “Okay, guys – Ando, you’re taking on any Fire-Types we find. Samuel, Richie, you guys can help me with any of the other Pokémon.”

Richie gave a nod in response. “Right.”

“I’m looking forward to this.” Samuel grinned widely.

“Thank you for the help.” Maxie nodded. “Let’s take care of these guys.” He looked down at his Pokémon. “Numel, are you ready?”

The Pokémon nodded. “Yup.”

“All right.” Maxie looked up at the rest of the volcanic area, a determined expression appearing on his face. “We need to get to that platform over there – that looks like it could be where they’ve taken the meteorite. There are Magnus people all over the place, so we’d better be ready.”

Crystal nodded. “I’ll work around the volcano this way, and you can go the other direction – we can meet over there.” She pointed to the platform that was jutting out over the volcano. “Sound good?”

“I was actually thinking of suggesting that, actually.” Maxie gave a nod. “Let’s go.”

With that, the two of them started running in separate directions – Crystal to the left, and Maxie to the right.

“Hey, kid! I’ve still gotta pay you back for that stunt you pulled in the museum!” A Magnus grunt wearing red pointed at Maria accusingly. “The Magma unit will make sure that you aren’t going to bother us anymore – we’ll make sure of that! Go, Numel!”

“Ando!” Crystal pointed towards the Pokémon that the Magnus grunt had just released.

“Right!” Ando reared back and shot off a Water Gun, catching the Numel by surprise with a watery blast to the face.

The Numel spluttered in response and shook his head.

“Ancient Power!” Crystal added quickly.

Ando raised his claws as the glowing rocks materialized above him, slamming into the Numel and sending the Pokémon onto his side. The Pokémon didn’t get back up.

The grunt gritted his teeth and returned the Numel before throwing out another PokeBall. “Slugma, go!”

“Again!” Crystal couldn’t help but feel satisfied as the magma Pokémon in front of her collapsed with a hissing noise to Ando’s Water Gun. “You’re doing a good job, Ando.”

The ground suddenly rumbled under her feet, and Crystal stiffened up a little in order to keep her balance in case it got any worse. She looked around in order to find the source of the shaking, and she caught sight of Maxie a short distance away, small cracks in the ground and a small smile on his Numel’s face.

“That must’ve been Magnitude,” Crystal realized. She blinked for a moment, then shook her head. “Okay. We’re definitely going to have to keep going.”

“Way ahead of you!”

Crystal turned, and her eyes widened when she saw Samuel taking down another one of the blue-and-red boulder Pokémon that she had seen in Meteor Falls.

“Ha.” Samuel jumped back while the green-themed Magnus member looked at the Breloom in shock. “That was so easy!”

“Good job!” Crystal gave Samuel a thumbs-up, then noticed that Richie was standing a short distance away from Samuel, bent over and looking at something on the ground. “Richie? What’s up?”

“Huh?” Richie looked up and over at Crystal, blinking. “Oh. I just found something.” He held up a blue stone that had what looked like a small star stuck inside. “I kinda want to hang onto it.”

Crystal blinked, then gave a slight shrug. “All right, I guess. But we’re going to need to take care of Magnus, too, so try not to get too distracted by it.”

“I know.” Richie nodded. “Let’s keep going, right?”

“Right.” Crystal turned and started towards the platform again, her Pokémon coming in close around her.

The group continued to battle their way through the Rock and Fire grunts at a pretty decent pace. Crystal was pleasantly surprised to find that her Pokémon were able to hold their own without needing any help from her, so she stored her energy and prepared for future opponents.

She and Maxie had nearly reached each other and the platform when Emerald suddenly jumped in front of them with his Sceptile and a brown, tree-like Pokémon with three green bulbs at the ends of its arms.

“You two aren’t gonna be going any further,” Emerald said, grinning. “There’s absolutely no way that I’m going to—“

“Emerald! I was going to take care of her!”

Crystal’s ears twitched when she heard the unfamiliar voice, and she frowned.

Emerald looked really annoyed as he turned and looked behind him. “Ruby! Don’t but in! I’ll handle this!”

A teenage boy wearing a white hat and a red outfit that looked similar to the other Fire Magnus members stepped around from behind Sceptile, looking a little annoyed. “Well, then you can handle that guy over there.” He pointed to Maxie, who looked a little annoyed at how the boy had motioned to him.

Emerald looked over at Maxie, scowling, then back at the boy. “I don’t get why you have to be the one who got higher up than me. You and your sister?”

“Don’t.” The boy raised a finger at Emerald. Then he looked over at Crystal and smirked. “The name’s Ruby. You’re Crystal, right?”

Crystal gave a slight nod in response, eyeing Ruby somewhat warily.

“What are you really planning on doing here?” Maxie demanded. “Are you really planning on setting off the volcano? Why?”

Ruby blinked at the question. “You think it’s gonna explode? Huh. I was just curious what was gonna happen when Mt. Chimney got irritated by the meteorite, that’s all.”

Maxie gritted his teeth at that. “Do you have any idea what could happen?!”

“What about the people who live in the region?” Crystal added. “Fallarbor and Lavaridge are definitely going to be affected if the volcano goes off! And what about the Pokémon that are going to lose their homes?!”

Ruby’s expression faltered at Crystal’s statement, and he took a step back out of surprise.

“It’s for the good of the region,” Emerald insisted, sending Ruby a pointed look.

Ruby blinked a couple times, and he shook his head before regaining his composure. “Right. It’s for the good of the region.”

Crystal could feel the color drain from her face.

Maxie didn’t look so much shocked as he was furious. “Are you nuts?!” He nodded to Numel. “Let’s take them down, before they destroy everything!”

“Right!” Numel prepared his stance for an attack.

Ruby smirked as he tossed forward a PokeBall, releasing a Numel. “You really think you can take us on? Go ahead and try! Numel, let’s go!”

“Ando!” Crystal’s words caused the Anorith to move forward. “Ancient Power!”

“Rock Tomb!” Maxie declared, pointing towards their opponents.

The two Pokémon reared back, summoning the rocks and sending them flying forward. They hit the Numel at once, knocking the little Pokémon out cold.

Ruby’s eyes widened in surprise as his Numel fell over.

Emerald snickered. “Sceptile! Get rid of that Numel! Leaf Blade!”

Crystal took in a breath, ready to fire off a Flamethrower, but then Maxie ordered, “Lava Plume!”

Crystal let out a coughing noise out of surprise, shooting a small fireball at Sceptile, who batted it away mere seconds before a column of flames exploded from Numel’s back and hit Sceptile square in the face.

“Gah!” Sceptile stumbled back a step, waving the flames out of his face. “Ouch!”

“Don’t let that distract you!” Emerald warned. “Leaf Blade!”

Sceptile shook his head for a moment longer, then nodded. The leaves on his arms lengthened suddenly before he shot forward, slamming into Numel and sending the little Pokémon flying.

“Return!” Maxie caught Numel in the PokeBall’s beam before the little Pokémon could have gone flying too far. He gritted his teeth. “That Pokémon is too strong for Numel to take on right now.” He grabbed another PokeBall off his belt. “Go, Fletchinder!”

The PokeBall exploded, releasing an orange, black, and white bird Pokémon.

“What kind of Pokémon is that?” Emerald asked, frowning.

“No way….” Ruby started jumping from one foot to the other, wide-eyed. “That’s a Fletchinder! They’re Flying/Fire-Types from Kalos! Awesome!”

Maxie was taken aback by Ruby’s sudden exclamation, then shook his head. “Fletchinder! Take out that Sceptile with a Flame Charge and an Aerial Ace!”

“You got it, boss!” Fletchinder flapped his wings…and suddenly disappeared from sight.

A moment later, there was a blast of flame and a slash of wind, and Fletchinder reappeared in front of Maxie. A couple seconds later, Sceptile collapsed.

“Whoa!” Crystal jumped in surprise. “That was fast!”

“Fletchinder are naturally fast Pokémon, but their evolved forms are even faster,” Maxie explained, not looking away from Emerald and Ruby. “He’s my first Pokémon, so he’s also my strongest.”

Fletchinder trilled. “Aw, boss! You’re makin’ me blush!”

“Combusken, Fire Spin!”

Crystal jumped back in surprise when a blast of flames suddenly came up around Ando, causing the Pokémon to hiss as the tornado of flames closed in on the Pokémon in an explosion of energy. When the smoke cleared, it showed that Ando was still moving, but he was badly hurt.

“Pay attention,” Ruby chided knowingly, smirking confidently.

Crystal gritted her teeth, mentally chiding herself for getting distracted. “Ando, pull back!” She looked over at her two other Pokémon. Knowing that Samuel would be unable to take the fight very well, she asked, “Richie, do you think you can take that Pokémon on?”

The Kirlia didn’t even hesitate; he instantly stepped forward, gripping tightly to the stone that he had managed to find earlier.

“I’m not going to let you do anything to the region!” Richie declared. “It’s my home! And you’re not going to do anything to destroy it!”

As if in response to Richie’s exclamation, the stone in his hand started glowing brightly, and in response, the rest of him started to glow, as well.

Crystal blinked in surprise, and her eyes widened a moment later when she saw that Richie was starting to get taller as a large crest rose up from the top of his head.

The light exploded off Richie in small particles, but Richie didn’t notice. He was glaring down at the Combusken.

“Confusion!” Crystal ordered.

There was a loud _shing!,_ and Ruby’s Pokémon suddenly flinched back, gripping his head as he stumbled on the slightly uneven ground. Combusken tried to stay on his feet, but then a second _shing!_ resounded in the air, and the Fire/Fighting-Type collapsed.

Richie relaxed, then raised his head and blinked. He frowned a moment later. “Um…Why does everything look a little shorter all of a sudden?”

“You evolved again, Richie,” Crystal spoke up behind her Pokémon. “Look down.”

Richie did so, and his eyes widened to find that he wasn’t wearing a skirt or a dress, _and_ his legs were, in fact, covered in white, like they had been when he was a Ralts. A grin crossed his face, and he looked back at Crystal. “Is this…?”

“Gallade?” Crystal grinned. “Well, you’re not wearing a dress, are you?” The grin faded a little. “That stone you found earlier must’ve been the Dawn Stone that we had been told about.”

“Mach Punch!”

Crystal turned when she heard Samuel call out the attack, and she blinked for a moment before grinning when she saw that the Breloom had knocked over Emerald’s other Pokémon – the Sudowoodo.

Emerald gritted his teeth. “Why you little—“

There was a sudden, bright flash, and Emerald, Ruby, and their Pokémon suddenly disappeared from sight.

Maxie blinked a couple times before frowning. “What just—did they Teleport out?”

Crystal nodded. “Yeah.” She frowned and looked up at the machine that was sitting at the end of the platform, then ran over. “I hope that they haven’t already started messing with Mt. Chimney!”

Maxie followed after her, their Pokémon following suit. “I don’t think they did – they were planning on getting everyone off the volcano before they set it off. At least, that was what the other Magnus people said.”

“Okay.” Crystal slowed as she reached the machine, then looked it over. It was a rather strange device, but the meteorite was easy to see – and even easier to find. Making her hand into a fist, Crystal slammed it into the glass dome over the meteorite, flinching when she didn’t so much as make a crack.

“I think I’ve got a less barbaric method,” Maxie commented, coming over while Crystal stepped back and shook her hand out.

“Go ahead,” Crystal responded, looking a bit sheepish.

Maxie looked over the device for a moment, then pressed down on something near the base of the dome. There came a whirring noise form inside the machine as the dome rose up on thin, mechanical columns, letting the meteorite out into the open air.

“I’m going to go and see if I can return this to its rightful place in Fallarbor,” Maxie said, turning to Crystal and hefting the meteorite in his hand. “The people there are probably worried about how Magnus managed to take off with it.” His expression hardened. “And then I’m going after Ruby.”

“Before you do….” Crystal dug up her PokeNav. “We should exchange numbers. That way, if I ever run into him again, I can get into contact with you. There’s someone in Fallarbor that you should hunt down, too – his name’s Zack, and he’s planning on going after Emerald. Apparently, he used to live up there.”

Maxie nodded. “Sounds good.” He pulled out a PokeNav of his own, and the two of them quickly exchanged numbers. As Maxie put his device away, he asked, “Where are you planning on going now?”

“Well, now that Mt. Chimney’s safe, I guess I can head down to Lavaridge,” Crystal responded, shrugging. “I had been planning on fighting the Gym Leader.”

“Sounds good. You can let Flannery and the others know what’s happened up here and what they could look out for.” Maxie gave a nod. “Watch out on Jagged Pass on your way down – there are a lot of different places for you to trip.” He smirked. “Hopefully, when we meet again, you won’t have a broken ankle.”

Crystal smirked in response. “I’ll be careful. Thanks for the tip.” The smirk faded. “You should be careful too, though. Magnus can be pretty dangerous.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Maxie gave a bow, then looked at Flechinder. “Do you think you can fly me to Fallarbor?”

“Sure, boss!” The Fire/Flying-Type somehow managed to salute in mid-air.

Crystal chuckled. “I’ll see you guys later, then. Good luck.”

“And the same to you.” Maxie gave Crystal a nod, then jumped onto Fletchinder’s back. The Pokémon turned and took off into the sky with a sudden burst of speed, leaving Crystal standing alone on Mt. Chimney.


	46. Jagged Pass

As soon as Crystal stepped into the trees that were climbing up the volcano, she stopped in surprise.

“Wow, it’s a lot cooler in here,” Crystal commented. She shivered and zipped up her jacket. “I’d say it feels nice, but it’s a lot colder than I’d like it to be, since we were just on top of that volcano.”

“Yeah,” Richie agreed, rubbing his arms. “It’s nice not to be up there now, though.”

Samuel’s head bobbed in agreement, but then he frowned as he looked up at Richie. “Hey….you’re taller than me now! No fair!”

Richie looked over at the Breloom, blinking. “Huh. Yeah, I am.” He grinned. “That’s pretty cool.”

Samuel scowled back. “No, it’s not.”

Crystal smiled at the two’s antics. “I think it’s pretty cool that you’re almost as tall as me now, Richie.” Her eyes widened a moment later. “Oh, yeah! The PokeDex – let’s see what it says about your new form, Richie.”

It didn’t take too long before Crystal had pulled out her PokeDex and had it pointed at her newly-evolved Pokémon.

_“Gallade, the Blade Pokémon, and the final evolved form of male Kirlia. A master of courtesy and swordsmanship, it fights using extending swords on its elbows. When trying to protect someone, it extends them and fights savagely. Because it can sense what its foe is thinking, its attacks burst out first, fast, and fierce. It is a Psychic and Fighting-Type.”_

Crystal looked at the PokeDex in amazement, then looked over at Richie before giving a smile. “Well, you definitely aren’t going to look girly anymore, that’s for sure.”

Richie smirked and nodded in agreement. “Yeah.” He looked at his arms. “So, I have swords in my elbows? That’s pretty cool.”

“We’ll definitely have to test that out,” Crystal agreed, nodding. “We should probably get down this pass to Lavaridge first, though.”

“Okay.” Richie looked down the path and frowned a little. “That looks…a little dangerous.”

Crystal looked down the path herself, frowning a little. “Yeah, it does look a little steep, but we shouldn’t really have any problems with it. Come on.” She started moving down the path at a slow pace, fighting against gravity – and the urge to just hover down the path. She didn’t want to end up catching any Trainers nearby by surprise. Her ears and tail were still exposed, though, on account of the fact that there was some ash falling between the trees. Crystal figured that she was going to have to take a shower in order to get all the ash out of her hair and fur.

Crystal hadn’t gotten all that far down the path before she heard a loud squeal.

“Oh! I didn’t think I’d get to – oh wait. You’re not….”

Crystal turned her head, ears swiveling as she looked for the source of the voice. She blinked in confusion when she caught sight of a gray-colored Pokémon with a spring underneath her main body and a bright pink pearl sitting between the Pokémon’s small ears.

“I’m not who?” Crystal asked, cocking her head to the side curiously. She made her way over to the patch of grass that the Pokémon was bouncing in, then got into a crouch in order to look the Pokémon in the eye.

“Oh, you just look like someone that I’ve seen before, that’s all,” the Pokémon responded quickly. “You wouldn’t happen to know anyone who looks like you and teleports all over the place, do you?”

Crystal frowned at the question, an uneasy feeling twisting in her stomach. “Looks like me? There isn’t supposed to be anyone else like me in the world….” She looked at her Pokémon with a concerned look for a moment before looking back at the Pokémon. “My name is Crystal. I was created in Kanto by Team Rocket almost nine years ago. Blaine never said that there was another person like me, and I never saw them, either. Are you saying that there is someone _exactly_ like me? With these?” Crystal motioned to the Mew ears sitting on top of her head.

The little Pokémon with the pearl blinked a couple times, then bobbed a little more than she already was. “Yes. Although, she looks really tired a lot of the time, now, and it’s been a while since I last saw her.”

Crystal wasn’t sure what to make of the Pokémon’s words. “Are you absolutely sure? Because if that’s true, then….” She sat back, wide-eyed as she paled. “Then that means there’s another Mewthree wandering around the region somewhere.”

“Granite Cave,” Ando spoke up suddenly. “I felt a Mew aura that was not the Mistresses’ there.”

Crystal looked over at the Anorith for a moment before nodding. “Yeah, I remember you saying something about that. I didn’t really know what to make of it, though….” She looked back at the little gray, bouncing Pokémon, who was now looking at Crystal with an expression of confusion. “Do you think this might be that same thing?”

“Can’t sense aura here other than Mistresses’, so I don’t know.”

Crystal frowned a little, filing away the fact that Ando’s speech was getting better _and_ he was still calling her ‘Mistress’. “Okay. Well, keep your senses wide open in case the other Mewthree is around, okay?” She turned to look at the other Pokémon. “Do you know if she has a name?”

“I think she does.” The Pokémon gained a thoughtful expression, but then gained an unhappy expression. “I don’t know what it is, though. She never said what it was.”

Crystal blinked at that, then gained a deep frown. “Uh-huh.” She rose to her feet, then dusted off her pants in order to get rid of the ash that clung to them. “Looks like we’re going to have to keep an eye out for my lookalike, then. I hope that she isn’t involved with Team Magnus….”

The Pokémon in front of her shivered. “Those people…there were a lot of them up around here earlier. Are they gone now?”

“They are,” Richie responded. “We kicked them out. They aren’t going to be coming around here anytime soon, so don’t worry, okay?”

“It’s kind of hard to not be worried around here.” A little humanoid Pokémon popped out of the grass.

“What do you mean, Machop?” Crystal asked, cocking her head to one side curiously.

“There’s a Pokémon living around here that isn’t supposed to be.” The little Fighting-Type folded his arms across his chest. “It keeps digging holes for traps and things like that, and it’s starting to get really annoying. I think it came here from the desert or something.”

“A Pokémon from the desert?” Crystal frowned at that. “Huh…where is it?”

“Somewhere down there.” Machop motioned further down the steep, torn up pass. “Keep your eyes open for traps – some of those things can do real damage to a human if you aren’t looking out for that kind of thing.”

Crystal nodded. "Thanks for the tip.” She looked at her teammates. “Well, guys, we’d better get going and find this Pokémon.”

Richie nodded in agreement. “Yeah.”

Crystal started down Jagged Pass again, waving back to Machop and the other Pokémon for a moment before turning her attention to where it was that she was going. “That Pokémon Machop mentioned must be the reason I’m not seeing any Trainers around…or maybe it’s something else.”

Samuel inclined his head and sniffed the air a little. “The air that’s down here…it kinda smells like Petalburg Woods does at night.”

“Night?” Crystal looked at Samuel in surprise, then looked up herself. She narrowed her eyes a little as she looked up at the trees, trying to see between the branches for a moment. Her eyes widened a moment later. “Oh, wow! I can actually see the stars! The sun must’ve set while we were on top of Mt. Chimney!” She looked at her team. “Sorry, guys. I wasn’t expecting us to be up this long.”

“It’s all right,” Richie responded. “We had something that we needed to do, so we went ahead and took care of it.” He smiled a little. “We’ll probably end up sleeping in tomorrow, right?”

“Right.” Crystal chuckled and nodded in agreement. “We should take care of that other Pokémon first, though. At least it’s on the way.”

As Crystal spoke, there came a shuffling noise near her feet – almost as though there was something digging around and shifting the dirt around. She looked down at her feet, and her eyes widened in surprise when she saw what looked like a small dip forming in the rock. She jumped back in surprise right before the dip collapsed into a large, hole, and the large, orange head of what looked like a Pokémon popped out of it.

“Oh. Trainer.” The Pokémon made a sniffing noise, then gained a disappointed expression. “I’d hoped that I would have been able to find a way back home.”

Crystal blinked in surprise, then looked down at the Pokémon curiously. “You’re trying to find your way home? Well, that definitely isn’t here.”

“Yeah, I know.” The Pokémon sighed. “I’m starting to think that I should just call this place home.”

“I don’t think you should.” Crystal shook her head at the Pokémon while the orange creature turned her head in order to look at Crystal with one eye.

“I shouldn’t?” The eye blinked. “Why not?”

“I don’t think that the Pokémon around here are going to appreciate the holes you’re leaving very much.” Crystal looked at the Pokémon for a moment, then looked to either side at her teammates. “How about you travel with us instead? I mean, you’ve already left your home.”

The Pokémon hesitated at the suggestion. “Me? Leave again? Are you sure?”

“We had to leave where we lived,” Richie pointed out, motioning to himself and Samuel. “And we’re stronger than we would have been, too. Crystal can help make you stronger.”

“Crystal?” The Pokémon cocked her head to one side. “Well...it would be nice to get stronger. There was a weird-looking kid with red hair wandering around the desert, last time I was there. He didn’t pick me up, though, even though I kinda wanted to go with him. You’re interesting too, though.”

Crystal smiled, then dug out an empty PokeBall from her backpack before holding it out in front of the Pokémon. The giant orange head bumped against the button and was promptly sucked inside.

“Okay.” Crystal clipped the PokeBall to her belt and pressed the button, releasing the Pokémon out into the open air again. “I’m going to see what the PokeDex has to say about you, and then I’m going to give you a name. Sound good?”

The orange Pokémon blinked a couple times before bobbing her head, which caused Crystal to smile in return before she pulled out her PokeDex and pointed it at her new team member.

_“Trapinch, the Ant Pit Pokémon. It lives in arid deserts, and its nest is a bowl-like, inescapable pit dug in the sand, where this Pokémon patiently waits for prey. It can go for a week without access to water, and its giant jaws can crush boulders. Because its head is so big, it has a hard time getting back upright if it tips over onto its back. This Pokémon is a pure Ground-Type.”_

“Trapinch….” Crystal rolled the word around in her mouth, frowning a little. “And you’re a girl, so….Trisha? Does that sound like a good name?”

The Trapinch considered Crystal’s suggestion, cocking her large head to one side. After a moment, she nodded. “It works.”

“Okay. Trisha it is.” Crystal smiled, satisfied. “Now to get down to Lavaridge and spend the night in the Pokémon Center. Tomorrow we can have a look around and see if we can challenge the Gym first thing in the morning.”

“Gym?” Trisha repeated.

**Time Break**

By the time that Crystal and her team had managed to get down to the bottom of Jagged Pass, they had filled Trisha in on everything that they had gone through so far on their journey – and where they were planning on going next. The Trapinch wasn’t exactly sure what to make of the fact that they were going to be taking on a Gym so soon after they had picked her up, but Crystal had assured her that Trisha wasn’t going to be put in the line of fire right away – the team was probably going to train for a while before Trisha was put into a battle anytime soon.

It didn’t take too long before they were in one of the Pokémon Center’s rooms, and it took even less time for the group to fall asleep after their long day of running around.


	47. Chapter 47

When Crystal woke up the next morning and saw her Pokémon lying in a jumbled pile on the floor, she couldn’t help but smile and giggle a little.

“Looks like they weren’t able to find places to sleep in time last night,” the Trainer commented. She pulled the covers back and sat up in bed before letting out a loud yawn. “I think that I’m still a little tired….” She shook her head. “Maybe a shower will help me wake up even more.”

Crystal made a beeline for the shower and washed out the ash that she hadn’t been able to get out of her fur and hair the night before. By the time that she had managed to finish her shower and had pulled on a white T-shirt and a clean pair of jeans, her Pokémon were all up and were looking somewhat groggy, but still mostly awake.

“Hey, guys,” Crystal nodded to her team. “Did you guys sleep well?”

Samuel yawned. “I guess.”

Richie stretched his arms above his head. “I feel really stiff. I don’t really feel like I want to do anything today.”

Crystal hummed a little in response. “Yeah…we were kind of running all over the place yesterday, weren’t we? We probably shouldn’t go and challenge the Gym today, then. I don’t want to run you guys ragged. Does that sound good to you guys?”

The Pokémon nodded in agreement.

“So, what should we do?” Crystal raised her arms above her head and stretched upward. “We didn’t really get a good look at what was around town when we came in last night. We could probably ask around, but I don’t want to be too much of a bother for anyone.”

“Nurse Joy could point us to somewhere,” Richie suggested. “She should know something.”

“She might.” Crystal nodded in agreement. “Let’s go down for breakfast and see if she’s got anything that we might be interested in doing. We’ll take it slow so that we don’t end up getting any muscle cramps.”

The group left the room and made their way down to the cafeteria, taking their time and being careful about how much they were moving around. Nurse Joy noticed this instantly, and came over with a Chansey as Crystal and the others sat down for breakfast.

“Excuse me, but I was wondering how hard you and your team pushed yourselves yesterday,” Nurse Joy said carefully.

“We went from Mauville to Fallarbor, then up Mt. Chimney yesterday,” Crystal explained, ducking her head. “We didn’t want to stop for anything, so I was thinking of taking the day off from training."

“Ah.” Nurse Joy considered that for a moment. “Might I recommend you visit the hot springs that are in town, then? It has been proven that relaxing there can help visitors release their stress and heal from their traveling.”

Crystal’s invisible ears twitched at that, and she smiled and gave a nod. “That sounds great. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to a hot spring. The last time was….” She trailed off for a moment, and her eyes widened a little. “Wow. About seven years ago.” She chuckled. “I’m definitely overdue for another visit.”

Chaney giggled at Crystal’s comment, then noticed that Trisha was hiding under the table, nervous about being close to so many humans. Ando was sitting next to her, looking pretty calm like he usually did. “Ah! You need to tell her about the sand baths, too! There’s a Trapinch and a strange Rock Pokémon under the table, and I think it’s hers.”

“Sand baths?” Trisha repeated.

“Hmm?” Nurse Joy looked under the table where Chansey was pointing, and her eyes widened a little. “Ah! Thank you for pointing that Pokémon out, Chansey.” She looked back at Crystal. “There is a place for sand baths near the hot springs. Since you have a Trapinch, it might be a good idea for that Pokémon to go there to relax, rather than the hot springs.”

Crystal nodded again. “Okay then. I definitely wouldn’t want to make either one of them uncomfortable by dropping her in the Hot Spring. Thanks for letting me know about that.”

“It was no problem on my part.” Nurse Joy gave a smile and a bow before retreating with Chansey.

Crystal looked at her team. “So, what do you guys think? Does a day at the hot springs sound good?”

Richie and Samuel exchanged looks before nodding vigorously.

Crystal couldn’t help but chuckle at their actions before looking under the table at her two other Pokémon. “And you two? What do you think?”

“Relaxing is good,” Ando said helpfully.

Trisha looked at him with a wide-eyed expression before shaking her head. “I guess I won’t have to worry about running around and fighting today….and feeling the sand would be nice.”

Crystal nodded before sitting upright. “I guess that’s that. We’re going to spend today relaxing.” She smiled before going back to her breakfast and quickly finished off her selection of fruits and the bacon she had picked up. Within minutes, Crystal and her Pokémon were out of the Pokémon Center and were looking around Lavaridge in the early morning.

Crystal took in a breath of the morning air and blinked in surprise. “Huh. I didn’t think that the air around here would be as clean as it is, since we’re so close to the volcano. I’d think that there would be at least some ash in the air.”

“The wind here always blows to the north, so we rarely ever see any sort of ash falling from the sky.”

Crystal turned her head when she heard the voice, and she caught sight of an elderly woman standing near the Pokémon Center. “Oh? Doesn’t wind come _from_ the north sometimes?”

“Rarely, but yes.” The woman nodded. “It doesn’t happen all that often, however, so we don’t have to worry about ash as much as Fallarbor does. I assume that you’ve been up there already?”

Crystal nodded. “Yeah. We were up there just yesterday.” She rubbed the back of her head. “We ended up traveling there from Mauville before coming here.”

“Oh, really? My goodness, you’ve traveled pretty far! I assume that you’re planning on visiting the hot spring, then?”

“Me and my Pokémon, yes,” Crystal motioned to her team. “I got in town late last night, though, so I haven’t been able to walk around town and see where the hot springs are.”

“Oh? My, you must be pretty tired still.” The woman chuckled. “There’s an entrance into the hot springs in the back of the Pokémon Center. You’re going to need a swimsuit if you’re not a Pokémon, though, and humans and Pokémon have separate springs that are separated by a low wall, but they’re still close together. If you want a sand bath, they’re right out in front of the hot spring – right over there.”

Crystal followed the woman’s hand-motion, and she caught sight of what looked like a large pit of sand. Already, there was an elderly man buried in the sand there, and he appeared to be oddly content.

“Okay.” Crystal looked over at the elderly woman and gave a smile. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” the elderly woman responded. “I hope that you are able to relax today.”

“I think I will.” Crystal smiled, then looked over at her team. “Okay. Trisha, Ando, let’s get you guys over to the sand. We should probably let that man know you’re going to be in there, so that he isn’t caught by surprise if you end up digging under him.”

Trisha’s eyes narrowed at that, and Crystal was given the impression that the Pokémon was scowling. “Not _my_ fault he’s buried in there already….”

Crystal smiled and shook her head before turning towards the large patch of sand next to a low-lying wall. She could see the steam rising from the other side, but she didn’t see any people or Pokémon on the other side of that wall.

“Excuse me!” Crystal raised an arm as she approached the sand pit, catching the attention of the young woman who was standing there in bare feet; Crystal couldn’t help but feel amazed at the deep red color that the woman’s hair was.

“Yes?” The woman brushed a strand of red hair out of her face. “What is it?”

“I’m planning on taking a day off from doing anything today, so I’m hoping to spend some time in the hot springs,” Crystal explained. “Two of my Pokémon aren’t going to take the water too well, so would it be all right if I left them hear to have a sand bath for a while? I’ll be in the water with my other two Pokémon in a few minutes.” She motioned to Richie and Samuel, who both nodded in agreement.

The redhead looked down at the two Pokémon, blinking in surprise for a moment before giving a smile. “Sure! We’ve got a section for Ground and Rock-Types, so those two shouldn’t have a problem. I can take them over there right now, actually.”

“That’d be great.” Crystal smiled in relief before looking down at Trisha and Ando. “I’m going to head back into the Pokémon Center to change, and then I’m going to be right back out on the other side of this wall, okay? Don’t do anything that might end up causing anyone any trouble.”

Ando gave something that looked like a salute while Trisha nodded in agreement.

Crystal nodded in response to their movements before sending a smile at the woman. Then she turned and ran back to the Pokémon Center, Samuel and Richie following after her.

**Time Break**

Crystal, now wearing a one piece pink swimsuit, looked down at the gently bubbling water for a moment, her invisible tail twitching as she looked over at Samuel and Richie, who were ready to get into the Pokémon pool of the hot springs.

Crystal gave the two Pokémon a nod, and stepped down the stairs and into the pool. Samuel and Richie followed suit seconds later.

As soon Crystal had gotten waist-deep into the pool, she knew instantly that she had _really_ needed the hot spring. The heat was slowly seeping into her body, relaxing her muscles and sending soothing pulses up her spine.

Crystal heard a sigh of relief come from one of her Pokémon, and she smiled as she made her way to the wall and sat down on a bench hiding under the water. It was low enough that the water came up to her chin, warming up her body and clearly bringing relief to her aching muscles.

“Ah… It’s really been too long since I was last in one of these.” Crystal leaned her head back – careful not to pinch her ears between her head and the wall – as she let the warm water soak through her hair and neck.

“Wow, the water in Petalburg Wood’s got nothing on the water here.” Samuel’s lazy comment wafted over the wall. “Oooh, this feels so good on my legs!”

“ _Your_ legs?” Richie repeated incredulously. “What about mine? We were running all over the place yesterday!”

Crystal chuckled. “I was moving a lot more than the two of you were. Don’t try to think that you can keep me out of it. You guys didn’t go through Route 113, remember?”

“Well, yeah,” Samuel admitted. “That is kinda true.”

“Sorry, Crystal,” Richie added.

“It’s okay.” Crystal yawned. “We’re all here to relax; it’s not like it’s only one of us in these hot springs.”

There were murmurings of agreement from the other Pokémon, and any other sounds from them ended up fading into sighs of contentment. Crystal closed her eyes as the conversation all but faded out, allowing the water in the hot spring to work its magic.

Crystal didn’t know how long she was relaxing there before she was interrupted by tapping the top of her head.

“Excuse me? You are a Trainer, right?”

Crystal cracked open one eye, then the other when she saw a young woman looking over one of the walls of the hot spring.

“Yes, I am a Trainer,” Crystal said. She let out a yawn. “The Gallade and Breloom over there are a part of my team.” She raised a hand out of the water and pointed over the wall behind her before quickly lowering it back into the water. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, I found a Pokémon Egg sitting down at the base of Jagged Pass. It looks like it’s been abandoned by its parents, and I was wondering if you’d be willing to take it.”

The words “Egg” and “abandoned” instantly caught Crystal’s attention, bringing her fully awake. She shifted her position on the bench, moving up from her relaxed position to one that was much more upright – exposing her shoulders and the straps of her swimsuit. “Do you have it with you?”

The woman shook her head. “I left it with Nurse Joy to make sure that the Egg’s all right, but I wanted to see if there was anyone who would be able to keep an eye on the Egg – and the Pokémon when it eventually hatches. Would you be willing to have to keep an eye on it?”

“Of course I would.” Crystal didn’t even need to think about it. She had heard from some Trainers and Professor Oak that some Trainers left Eggs at Day Cares and on other people’s doorsteps because they didn’t want the responsibility. To hear that an Egg had been left at _Jagged Pass_ left her really concerned. “You said it was with Nurse Joy, right?”

The woman nodded. “Yes, that’s right. I’ll tell her that I’m going to let you take the Egg…”

“Crystal,” Crystal supplied.

The woman blinked a couple times before smiling a little. “Crystal, huh? All right. Thanks for taking on the Egg.”

“It’s no problem. I’m not about to let any baby Pokémon – hatched or not – to be left alone like that.”

The woman gave a nod in response to Crystal’s statement. “I’ll make sure to let Nurse Joy now. Thanks.” She raised a hand in farewell before turning and walking away, disappearing from sight.

As soon as the woman was gone, Crystal realized that the woman hadn’t given _her_ name…and there was a strangely tired look in her eyes.

 _I wonder why that woman couldn’t take on the Egg herself,_ Crystal thought to herself, frowning.

**Time Break**

“So, this is the Egg?” Crystal looked over the glass cylinder that Nurse Joy had handed her, eyeing the black and gray-striped Egg that was lying inside. “I haven’t seen a pattern like this before.”

“The woman who brought the Egg in didn’t know what exactly the Pokémon was, either,” Nurse Joy said apologetically. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to wait and see until it hatches in order to see what kind of Pokémon it is.”

Crystal nodded absently, only listening to Nurse Joy with half an ear as she brought the Egg close to her face. “Yeah….Hmm. Maybe it’s a Zigzagoon that’s been affected by Pokerus or something like that. I’m definitely going to be in for a surprise either way.” She looked over at Nurse Joy and gave a smile. “This is the first time that I’ve seen an Egg this close, much less had one to carry around. This is definitely going to be interesting.”

Nurse Joy smiled in response. “New life is always something to look forward to and appreciate. I hope you can take care of that Pokémon well when it hatches.”

“I hope so, too,” Crystal agreed. She turned and looked at the other members of her team. “Well, I don’t think I can sit around in the hot spring anymore today. I’m starting to feel wrinkly, so that woman coming to tell me about the Egg was probably a good thing. I don’t really want to go and wander around town very much, so…how about we head back to our room for the rest of the day?”

“Sure,” Trisha responded.

“Sounds good to me,” Samuel added, nodding.

Crystal smiled. “Okay then. We’ll head back out tomorrow and go to the Gym in town in order to take on the Gym Leader. We can’t relax the entire time that we’re here, you know.”

“I’m ready for it.” Richie raised a hand and clenched it into a fist, causing the hidden blade in his elbow to extend suddenly. The Gallade let out a yelp and looked down at his elbow with wide eyes before relaxing his hand, watching as the blade disappeared back into his elbow.

“You should probably work on that,” Crystal chuckled.

**Space Break**

There was a bright flash as a figure teleported into a dark room, looking tired and somewhat irritated.

“Oh, you’re back,” someone in the darkness said in a lazy manner. “You take care of that thing like I asked you to?”

“Yeah, I did,” the figure responded in a snapping tone. “Can I go now?”

There came a snort. “Yeah, sure. Go on back to your little prison.”

There came a snarl from the figure, tail lashing back and forth as cat-like ears flattened on her head. She said nothing, however, as she teleported out of the room.

As soon as the figure was gone, there came a snickering noise in the darkness. “Man, it’s really fun to mess with her.”


	48. Chapter 48

Crystal woke up the next morning feeling refreshed – and it was clear that her Pokémon were feeling the same way, as well, since they were up before she had even opened her eyes.

Crystal blinked in surprise when she saw Richie and Samuel looking down at her. “Uh…hi?” She smirked a little. “You two look like you’re really eager to get going this morning.”

“You could say that,” Samuel responded. Despite the fact that he was clearly trying to sound bored, he was smirking a little. “We’ve got a Gym to go to today, remember?”

“Yeah, I remember.” Crystal moved to a sitting position, taking her time so that Samuel and Richie would be able to get out of the way without bumping their heads with hers. “You guys think you’re ready for it?”

Three of the four Pokémon in the room nodded or waved their claws vigorously, as though that was enough to let Crystal know they were good to go. Seeing that Trisha was hesitant, though, made Crystal frown a little.

“Trisha?” Crystal asked. “Are you doing all right?”

“I’m all right,” the Pokémon responded carefully. “But I don’t think that I’m ready for something like this.”

“Really?” Crystal’s frown deepened, and she got off the bed and came over to the Pokémon. “Why is that? Is it because you’ve never fought before?”

“It’s not that. It’s the…..” Trisha trailed off for a moment. “It’s the whole Trainer thing. I’m not used to somebody giving me orders.”

“Ah.” Crystal gave a nod. “Yeah, it can be quite a transition, can’t it? If you don’t want to, you don’t have to, but you’re going to have to get used to it eventually.”

“Yeah….” Trisha lowered her head.

“So I’m going to give you the option to jump in at anytime today while we’re battling, just so that you can figure out how this is going to work between the two of us. Sound good?”

Trisha hesitated for a moment, then gave a nod. It almost looked like she was going to tip herself over, since her head was so much bigger than her body. “Okay.”

Crystal nodded at the Trapinch, then looked around at her team. “I’m going to get out of these pajamas, and then we’re going to have breakfast before we head out to find the Gym. Shouldn’t take us any longer than an hour, and by then we should be able to challenge the Gym Leader. Sound like a plan?” When she got the nods in response from her Pokémon, Crystal gave them a smirk and disappeared into the bathroom.

Within minutes, they were in the cafeteria, eating breakfast. Samuel and Richie tried to eat quickly, exchanging looks to see who was going to finish first, but Crystal put a stop to that pretty quickly.

“I get that you guys want to get to the Gym, but eating fast like that isn’t going to do anything good,” Crystal said in a warning tone, putting her hands between her Pokémon and their food. “I don’t want you two cramping up in the middle of a match.”

Richie and Samuel looked sheepish, and then they started eating at a slower pace.

“You’re gonna challenge the Gym today?”

Crystal looked up when she heard the voice, and her expression brightened. “Brendan! Hi!”

Brendan grinned in response. “Hey. You beat me to Lavaridge; that’s not exactly fair.”

Crystal shrugged helplessly. “Yeah, well…I kinda heard that the Cable Car was working again two days ago, so I went ahead and went straight there. We just relaxed yesterday because we were so exhausted from running around.”

“I guess! My team didn’t really want to do all that much running around yesterday because ran ourselves ragged taking challengers two days ago!” Brendan’s grin widened. “But we’re ready to take on that Gym Leader now, that’s for sure. And you?”

“Well, we’re hoping,” Crystal responded. “I picked up a new member two days ago – Trisha’s hiding under the table right now. She’s a Trapinch, according to the PokeDex.”

“Really?” Brendan glanced under the table; Crystal felt Trisha bump against her legs as she tried to move away from Brendan. “Huh. Shy little girl, isn’t she?”

“Well, I guess it’s just that there are so many people around,” Crystal responded. “She’s just fine when there’s one or two people, though. I haven’t asked her much about where she lived and if there were very many humans hanging around, but her actions speak louder than her words.”

“Yeah.” Brendan straightened, smirking. “So, since we’re both planning on challenging the Gym, how about we have a friendly match against each other?”

Crystal blinked in surprise while Samuel and Richie exchanged looks. “A match against each other? Really?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, we’re both Trainers, but we haven’t fought against each other to see how well we’re doing.” Brendan gave Crystal an expectant expression. “So, what do you say? Let’s have a match outside, and the winner gets to fight the Gym Leader first. Sound good?”

Crystal considered Brendan’s suggestion, and she looked over at Samuel and Richie with a curious expression. “What do you guys think? Do you want to go ahead and fight Brendan’s team before we go after the Gym Leader?”

Samuel and Richie looked at each other for a moment, then looked back at Crystal and nodded, determined expressions on their faces.

“All right then.” Crystal looked back at Brendan and nodded. “Sounds good. Where we going to do it?”

“How about right out in the town square?” Brendan motioned to the front door of the Pokémon Center. “Just right out there. We should be able to have enough room.”

Brendan nodded in approval. “Good. I’ll be waiting outside for you whenever you’re ready.” He gave a wave, then turned and walked out of the Pokémon Center.

“This is going to be fun,” Samuel said, grinning widely.

Crystal laughed at the Breloom’s statement. “It has been a while since we’ve had a casual battle against someone. It’ll probably be a good idea to have a battle against someone else like us rather than just Magnus all the time.” She rose to her feet, breakfast done. “Are you guys done?”

The Pokémon looked at each other, then back at Crystal and nodded.

“All right. Let’s go and meet Brendan.”

It didn’t take too long for Crystal and the others to leave the Pokémon Center, and the met Brendan standing outside of the Pokémon Center, his arms folded across his chest with a large grin on his face.

“So you’re ready, huh?” Brendan asked, grinning.

Crystal nodded. “Yeah, we are.” She motioned to the Pokémon standing behind her. “And this is my team. We haven’t really changed all that much since Fallarbor.”

Brendan raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? Richie looks like he’s gotten much taller. He’s almost as tall as you!”

“Don’t remind me,” Samuel muttered, scowling.

Crystal blushed and ducked her head. “He evolved two days ago on Mt. Chimney. Magnus was planning on doing something up there, so we needed to rush up there in order to put a stop to them. That’s why we crossed so much ground two days ago.”

The grin that was on Brendan’s face sobered. “Oh. Gotcha. No wonder you got here before I did.”

“Yeah.” Crystal nodded. “But we’re not here to talk about that, because that was two days ago and we don’t have to worry about them doing anything. We came here for a fight, remember?”

Brendan’s expression brightened, and he grinned. “Oh, yeah! That’s right! So you’re ready for my challenge?”

“You got that right.”

Brendan grinned. “All right! I’m definitely going to be the one to battle the Gym Leader first! Mac, let’s go!”

When the Slugma popped out of his PokeBall, Crystal looked back at her team for a moment, frowning a little. “Hmm…Trisha? Do you think you can take that Pokémon?”

The Trapinch cocked her head to one side. “I guess.” She started moving forward, then came to a stop in front of Crystal.

“Our new Pokémon are going against each other, huh?” Brendan smirked. “All right, then! Mac, let’s start this off with a Rock Slide!”

“Trisha, dodge it!” Crystal retaliated.

Trisha didn’t even look back; instead, she dipped forward and dug into the ground, leaving an open hole.

Crystal blinked in surprise. “Huh. So she knows Dig? That’s pretty cool.”

Brendan frowned, looking somewhat uneasy. “This isn’t good….Mac, move! That Trapinch is coming up from below!”

Mac started to crawl across the ground, but there came a rumbling from below him. Seconds later, the ground exploded up, releasing Trisha and sending the Slugma flying a short distance.

Mac collapsed on the ground in a blobby mess on the ground for a moment before regaining his shape. The Pokémon had a sour look on his face.

Trisha jumped back, shaking her head and rubbing it into the ground as she worked off the lava that was on the edge of her nose. “Ow! That burns!”

Brendan grinned when he saw the red marks on Trisha’s nose. “That’s Mac’s ability! Flame Body!”

Crystal’s eyes widened when she heard that. “Oh! I remember Blaine telling me about that! Trisha, do you have any other moves that won’t have you touch him?”

Trisha cocked her head to the side for a moment, then nodded and reared her head back before burrowing underground again. Within moments, the ground under Mac started to bubble up before an explosion of sand rose up from the ground and entrapped Mac.

“Sand Tomb!” Crystal exclaimed recognizing the move. “Awesome!”

Mac thrashed against the Sand Tomb for a moment, then collapsed into a blob of bubbling magma as the sand died down.

Trisha popped back up as Brendan returned Mac, her nose still a little red and a pleased look in her eyes.

“Good job for a first match,” Crystal said, nodding approval to the Trapinch. “I think you’re ready for any other battles that we might end up getting involved in.”

“You don’t even know all the moves that she knows,” Brendan commented as he switched Mac’s Great Ball for one of the three PokeBalls that he had at his belt. “Zuzu, let’s go!”

As soon as the Marshtomp landed on the field, Trisha lowered herself a little closer to the ground.

Crystal noticed. “Trisha, you took on his first Pokémon just fine; you can come back.”

Trisha buried herself in the ground and popped back up behind Crystal, looking somewhat relieved.

“Samuel, you’re up.” Crystal grinned at the Breloom, who grinned in response.

“Awesome!” Samuel jumped in front of Crystal, bouncing from one foot to the other.

Zuzu snorted. “You’re definitely going down.”

“Are you sure about that?” Samuel’s grin widened.

“Take Down!” Brendan ordered.

“Headbutt!” Crystal responded.

Samuel grinned and dashed forward a second after Zuzu did. The two rammed into each other, with Zuzu’s arms hitting Samuel’s back while the Breloom rammed into the Marshtomp’s stomach.

“Oof!” Zuzu stumbled back, taking in a breath and rubbing his stomach. “That hurt!”

“Not as much as this!” Samuel teased in response. “Mega Drain!” He took in a deep breath, and Zuzu winced as green spheres of energy were sent flying from Zuzu to Samuel.

“Mega Drain,” Crystal translated for Brendan, nodding as Zuzu collapsed onto his knees before his face hit the ground. “I think Zuzu’s down for the count.”

Brendan scowled a little, pulling Zuzu back before throwing out another PokeBall, calling, “Taylor! Aerial Ace!”

As soon as the PokeBall exploded open, a stream of light slammed into Samuel, sending the Pokémon flying back a short distance before he collided with the ground.

“Samuel!” Crystal turned back to look at the Breloom. Her eyes widened when she saw that the Pokémon was having trouble getting up – much like when he had first evolved. She ran over. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” Samuel managed. He turned over and tried to push himself up, but that failed, and he landed on the ground again, planting his face in the dirt. “Ow….”

“Okay, you’re not fighting anytime soon.” Crystal turned and motioned for Richie to come over and help Samuel to his feet. “That was a fast attack there, Brendan!”

“Thank Taylor,” Brendan responded, grinning. He motioned to the Pokémon that was sitting in front of him. “He learned it when he ended up evolving a little while ago.”

“Evolving?” Crystal turned and looked at the Pokémon, blinking when she saw that it was a large, bluish-black and red bird with a proud expression on his face. “That does look like a bigger version of Tailow…did that happen two days ago?”

“Yup!” The large Pokémon straightened proudly. “I’m Taylor, and I’m a Swellow! Nice to beat you!”

“Oh, we’re not done yet.” Crystal grinned. “Ando, do you think you can take this Pokémon on?”

The Anorith’s claws clicked together, and he crawled forward. “I’m ready.”

Taylor stared at the Pokémon. “That thing spoke human.”

“Yeah, he does that,” Crystal responded. “Ando, hit him with an Ancient Power!”

“Peck!” Brendan retaliated.

Taylor shot forward at high speed while Ando prepped his move. The Normal/Flying-Type slammed into the Anorith right before the rocks dropped down onto the Swellow.

“Whoa!” Crystal stumbled back when the rocks slammed down on top of both her and Brendan’s Pokémon. “I wasn’t expecting that!”

“Taylor?” Brendan asked with a concerned tone.

The Swellow let out a groan in response, but didn’t move. Neither did Ando.

“I think that they’re both knocked out,” Richie offered, looking over from behind Crystal.

Crystal looked back at Richie for a moment and nodded in agreement. “Yeah, looks like it.” She grabbed one of the PokeBalls on her belt and returned Ando, letting Taylor finally hit the ground.

“I wasn’t expecting a double knock out like that,” Brendan commented, returning Taylor. “Why do you think that happened?”

“According to what I was told, fossil Pokémon like Ando are at least part Rock,” Crystal explained. “And Rock moves are super-effective against Rock-Types, and since Taylor was on top of Ando, the move ended up hitting him.”

“Oh.” Brendan blinked a couple times. “I guess that makes sense.” He smirked. “But I’ve knocked two of your Pokémon out of the match, so you’ve only got two left while I’ve got one. Lily!”

The Linoone exploded out of her PokeBall. “Oh! Hi! We’re fighting you now?”

Trisha moved forward before Richie could take the chance to. “I can take this one.”

Crystal looked down at the burned Trapinch with a curious expression for a moment, then gave a smile. “All right, then. Let’s try to use one of your other moves.”

Trisha nodded in response, then reared her head back and slammed it into the ground as Lily dashed forward.

The cascade of rocks slammed down behind Lily the same time that the Linoone rammed into the Trapinch, sending Trisha flying a short distance. Richie promptly ran after her.

“Trisha!” Crystal exclaimed in alarm.

Richie reached Trisha and tried to pick up the Trapinch, only to fail miserably and leave her to lie on the ground. “It looks like she’s fainted, Crystal!”

Crystal gritted her teeth a little, returning the Pokémon to her PokeBall. “Okay…Richie, you’re the only one left who can fight. Think you can handle it?”

Richie’s head bobbed, a determined look appearing on his face. “Yeah!” He moved in front of Crystal and stood in an aggressive stance that seemed to say that he was ready to lunge forward.

Lily’s ears perked up. “Ooh! You’re a lot bigger than when I saw you last time! That’s cool!”

“Lily, Headbutt!” Brendan directed.

“Confusion or Magical Leaf,” Crystal responded. “You know what to do.”

Richie nodded without looking back, just a second before Lily rammed into him and knocked the wind out of him. The Gallade stepped back and shook his head for a moment before bracing himself.

“Again!” Brendan grinned widely.

Before Lily could even shoot forward, Richie crouched as the air around his head shimmered before a loud _shing!_ noise went through the air.

“Ow!” Lily jumped back, shaking her head before running forward and past Richie before skidding in an extremely wide arc around behind Crystal. “I feel really weird….”

Richie turned, looking somewhat worn, and made a slashing motion as the Magical Leaf formed around him before it shot forward and rammed into the Linoone.

Lily let out a whine noise before she collapsed on the ground and stopped moving.

Crystal looked back and forth between the two Pokémon for a moment before she smiled. “Richie, we did it! We beat Brendan!”

“Yes!” Richie raised an arm in the air.

Brendan stood there with a surprised look on his face before he sighed and shook his head. “Well, you are a pretty good Trainer, since you’re half Pokémon yourself.”

Crystal chuckled and rubbed the back of her head. “Well, it does help when it comes to understanding them. That can help with training sometimes.”

“Well, it’s definitely helped you.” Brendan returned Lily to her PokeBall. “Let’s head over to the Pokémon Center to heal up. I know where the Gym is, so I can lead you there.”

“Thanks.” Crystal smiled brightly. “That’s definitely going to help.”


	49. Chapter 49

When Crystal stepped into the Gym, her light-pink T-shirt and jeans instantly became moist from all the mist that was hanging around in the air.

“Whoa!” Crystal blinked in surprise. “This is…wow. It feels almost as warm in here as Mt. Chimney did.”

“That’s because of all the water in the air,” spoke up a figure helpfully. “Humidity can make a place hot just as much as heat can.”

Crystal turned expecting a match, but then relaxed when she saw that the figure was, in fact, one of the Gym guides that she had seen a few times before. “Oh? I guess I should’ve known that. So, what Type is this Gym? Water?”

The Guide shook his head. “It’s a Fire-Type Gym, but the puzzle is based around the hot springs that Mt. Chimney has made. You’re probably going to be soaked through by the end of the Gym, but the heat from the Gym Leader should be able to dry you off pretty quickly. Flannery’s a new Gym Leader, but her fiery Pokémon are strong.”

Crystal nodded. “Okay then. Thanks for letting me know. How does the puzzle work?”

“It’s basically a maze, but there’s a floor beneath us – you have to drop down through trap doors that are all over the place, and you get shot up on geysers on certain platforms. There’s water on the second level, just to warn you.”

“Okay.” Crystal nodded again. “Thanks.” She looked back at her team and smiled apologetically. “Samuel, you’re going to have to sit this one out.”

The Breloom scowled. “Great.”

“You’re probably going to have to sit in your PokeBalls and wait until I get to Flannery,” Crystal added. “I don’t think that this maze would be a good idea to go through with multiple Pokémon following after me.”

“That’s fine with me,” Trisha responded. “I don’t want to get wet.” She returned herself to her PokeBall rather abruptly. Ando seemed to hesitate, but then he followed after her a moment later.

“Good luck with the maze,” Richie said, smiling at Crystal encouragingly. He disappeared into his PokeBall a moment later.

“And make sure you get us out if you need some help,” Samuel added. He too disappeared quickly, leaving Crystal standing alone with four full PokeBalls on her belt.

“Okay.” Crystal turned to look at the Gym maze that was ahead of her, and took in a breath before starting forward.

The maze was definitely something that made Crystal scratch her head in order to figure out how to get tot the Gym Leader. She knew that there was someone waiting for her in the center of the Gym, Flannery wasn’t really standing anywhere that let Crystal see her.

So, Crystal instead concentrated on figuring out the puzzle, battling the Gym Trainers along the way – including the Trainers with the strange, green Pokémon that somehow managed to copy the Types of the moves her Pokémon used. By the time she had reached the center of the Gym, Samuel had come out a few times and had ended up getting burned, pretty much ensuring a trip to the Pokémon Center as soon as Crystal set a foot out of the Gym.

Crystal stepped off the last geyser and looked up at the small mountain that had been built there. Now that she was closer, she could clearly see that there was someone standing on a platform above her, and it definitely looked like the figure was nervous.

Also, much to her surprise, Crystal realized that the Gym Leader was the exact same woman as the one who was in the hot springs just the day before.

“Hello?” Crystal called up. “I’m Crystal, and I’m here to challenge the Gym Leader.”

The red-haired woman who had been pacing looked down at Crystal in surprise. “What? Y-you—you’re the Trainer who was at the hot springs yesterday!”

“Yup.” Crystal smiled. “And you were the one who helped me out with getting Trisha and Ando somewhere to relax. I didn’t know that you were Flannery.”

“And I didn’t think that you were a –“ Flannery paused for a moment, then flapped her forehead. “Oh, man! I forgot my Gym Leader speech to intimidate my challenger!”

Crystal blinked a couple times when she heard Flannery’s exclamation, then sighed and shook her head. “You prepared a speech? Really?” She looked up at Flannery with a raised eyebrow. “I don’t think that you really need to have a speech to intimidate anybody. The Gym Leaders that I’ve met back in Kanto don’t need a speech in order to make them scary – their expertise with Pokémon is what can make them intimidating to challengers.”

Flannery blinked at that. “Seriously? My grandfather always had a speech before he fought, and it was really scary.”

“Did you think he was scary in battle?” When Crystal saw the look on Flannery’s face, she gave a knowing nod. “Yeah. I’ve…known a few people who can be like that. Gym Leaders are good scary, though, not nasty scary. And they can be friendly before and after battle, too. Don’t try and think that you have to be scary all the time just because you’re a Gym Leader.”

Flannery blinked a couple times when Crystal finished speaking. “Huh. Uh…I don’t know….” She looked away for a moment, frowning, then looked back at Crystal. “Do you think you can go ahead and show me that in a Pokémon match?”

Crystal blinked a couple times before smiling. “I did come in here for a match. And I have Pokémon who are ready for one, too.” She gripped Trisha’s PokeBall and held it up, smiling slightly.

Flannery grinned, then grabbed one of the three PokeBalls on her waist and tossed it up into the air, releasing a Slugma. “Referee! Are you ready?”

“I am!” A Kindler Trainer appeared from behind one of the trees, holding up the flags that most referees carried. “Are you two ready?”

Crystal nodded, then threw out her own PokeBall. “Trisha, we’ve got another Slugma!”

The PokeBall popped open, and the Trapinch landed on the rocky ground. She took one look at the Slugma, then looked back at Crystal with a blank, bored expression in her eyes.

“Really?” Trisha asked.

Crystal shrugged.

“Since the both of you are ready, go ahead and start!” The Kindler motioned his flags in a downward direction, signaling the start of the fight.

“Sand Tomb!” Crystal ordered.

“Get rid of it with Overheat!” Flannery responded. Crystal blinked in surprise when she heard the change in tone in Flannery’s voice. Her invisible ears perked instantly as the Slugma started to build up heat and Trisha built up her own Sand Tomb attack.

_Is she trying to--_

At this point, Slugma suddenly exploded, releasing a large amount of heat into the area and catching Crystal by surprise. Trisha flinched when the attack hit a moment after she fired the Sand Tomb, but she managed to stay upright as the attack wrapped around Slugma.

“Good job!” Crystal encouraged. “Still, that last attack nearly took you out; are you feeling all right?”

Trisha nodded. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

“Still, I don’t want you to get too damaged.” Crystal pulled a Super Potion out of her bag and sprayed it over the Trapinch. The burns that were on the Ground-Type faded as more of Trisha’s energy returned.

“Light Screen!” Flannery ordered, still taking that changed tone that she had started the battle with.

“Huh?” Slugma cocked his head to one side, looking somewhat confused.

“You know what to do,” Crystal said, nodding to Trisha encouragingly. “You’ve got this.”

Trisha nodded without even looking back, and she reared her head back before slamming it against the ground. “Rock Slide!”

The resulting rumble of noise came from the falling tumble of rocks falling down on top of Slugma, catching the Pokémon by surprise. “Ow!”

Crystal grinned and let out a laugh. “Nice hit, Trisha! Great job!”

Trisha let out a humming noise in response.

Flannery was starting to look less like she was in control of the match. “Slugma! Rock Throw!”

Crystal’s ear twitched when she noticed that Flannery’s voice had shifted back to a more natural voice.

“Right!” Slugma started to prepare the move.

“Sand Tomb!” Crystal countered.

Trisha was moving already and set off the Sand Tomb, and Slugma fainted a moment later.

“Slugma is unable to battle!” the Kindler called.

“Awesome!” Crystal grinned happily. “That’s one down!” her grin faded a little bit. “You should pull back for a bit, Trisha, and get some rest while Ando takes the next one.”

Trisha seemed disappointed by the idea, but she did move back to stand next to Crystal while she tossed out Ando’s PokeBall, releasing the Anorith.

Ando looked around for a moment, then looked over at Flannery and clacked his claws together meaningfully.

Flannery blinked a couple times. “I don’t think I’ve seen a Pokémon like that before. Is that a Pokémon that you brought from another region?”

“Nope. It’s a Pokémon that Devon gave me,” Crystal explained. “They cloned it from the DNA of a Pokémon fossil.”

“Really?” Flannery gained an amazed expression. “Then I should pull out my best Pokémon in order to take it out.” She grabbed another PokeBall off her belt and threw it. “Torkoal, let’s go!”

The PokeBall exploded open, releasing a four-legged orange and black Pokémon with a shell on its back, which instantly started releasing steam as soon as it hit the ground.

Crystal blinked. “I haven’t seen a Pokémon like that before.” She reached into her backpack and pulled out her PokeDex.

_“Torkoal, the Coal Pokémon. They dig through mountains and abandoned coal mines for coal, which it burns for energy. When found, it fills the hollow spaces in its shell and burns coal. They belch thick, black smoke when in danger, and if it comes from its nostrils, it lets off a sound that is similar to a locomotive’s horn. This Pokémon is a pure Fire-Type.”_

“Huh.” Crystal blinked at the PokeDex for a moment, then put it away and looked down at Ando. “You ready?”

Ando slammed his claws down into the ground. Crystal grinned in response.

“Ancient Power!”

“Body Slam!”

Torkoal ran forward and leapt up at the same time that Ando’s move materialized above him. The rocks slammed into the turtle Fire-Type, sending it flying back a short distance and onto its back.

“Hey!” Torkoal exclaimed. “Lousy whippersnapper! Respect your elders!”

Ando let out a snorting noise. Crystal blinked a couple times with a slightly humored expression.

“You can still use a move while you’re like that,” Flannery encouraged. “Overheat!”

“Water Gun!” Crystal countered.

A blast of heat exploded out of Torkoal’s shell, while Crystal held up her arms in order to protect herself from the attack. When she lowered her arms, she blinked for a moment before her eyes widened in surprise before her expression turned into shock.

“Ando!” Crystal exclaimed in concern when she saw that the Anorith had gone completely limp.

“Uh…” The Kindler hesitated. “Your Ando is unable to battle. Torkoal wins that match.”

Crystal attempted to reel in her panic as she grabbed Ando’s PokeBall and brought the fossil Pokémon back. “Okay…looks like we’re down one Pokémon. “She looked over at Trisha. “Think you can take her last few Pokémon on?”

The Trapinch cocked her head to one side, frowning a little. A moment later, she gained a determined expression and nodded before stepping forward. She took a stance in front of Crystal that clearly said that she was ready to go.

“Okay.” Crystal gave a nod. “Rock Slide!”

“Body Slam!” Flannery countered.

The rocks slammed down onto Torkoal, causing him to collapse into the rocky floor with a bellow of pain.

“Torkoal is unable to battle!” the Kindler exclaimed. “Trapinch wins this match!”

Crystal grinned and gave Trisha a thumbs-up. “That’s two down!”

Flannery was starting to look rather flustered as she returned Torkoal and grabbed the last PokeBall that was on her belt. “All right, then! Numel, let’s go!”

The Numel that came out of the PokeBall looked around lazily for a moment before looking at Trisha. “Oh. Hi.”

Trisha stiffened a little, looking like she was ready to charge into battle instantly.

“Okay! Overheat!” Flannery ordered.

“Dig!” Crystal blurted quickly in response.

Trisha disappeared under the rocky floor seconds before the blast of heat hit the area. A moment later, the ground heaved under Numel, sending the Pokémon flying up as Trisha scrambled out of the way of the falling Numel.

“Ow!” The Numel collapsed to the ground, looking dizzy. The Pokémon quickly recovered, however, and shook her head before sending Trisha a disapproving frown.

“That hurt,” Numel complained.

“Hit that Pokémon with a Rock Slide!” Flannery ordered.

“You can take that Pokémon out without any problems,” Crystal encouraged.

Trisha didn’t look back; instead, she reared back and slammed down on the ground as Numel did the same. Two identical rumbles went off suddenly as two Rock Slides slammed down on the two Pokémon at once.

“Trisha!” Crystal exclaimed out of concern as the rocks disappeared. “Are you doing all right?”

The Trapinch, who was struggling a little on her feet, shook her head as she focused on staying upright. Crystal could hear what sounded like some kind of growling coming from the Pokémon.

It looked like Numel was trying to stay on her feet, as well, but she was having an equally difficult time of it.

“Come on, come on….” Crystal’s invisible tail started lashing as she gritted her teeth a little. “You can do it, Trisha! Try to hit that Numel one more time!” She quickly scrambled for her backpack and pulled out a Super Potion. “Rock Slide!"

Flannery saw the Super Potion in Crystal’s hand and reacted instantly, grabbing a Super Potion of her own from a back pocket of her jeans. “Numel, Overheat!”

The two Pokémon, suddenly feeling better, instantly moved to action – Trisha slammed down her front paws, sending the Rock Slide at Numel; at the same time, the camel-like Pokémon released a blast of heat that felt like it filled up the Gym. Crystal actually took a step back because of the blast.

“Wow, your Pokémon are strong!” Crystal exclaimed as the rocks tumbled down over Numel while Trisha stumbled from the heat blast. She looked like she was about to fall over, but she was a little better off than before that last attack.

Numel, on the other hand, had completely collapsed as the rocks rolled away from her and dissipated completely.

“Numel is unable to battle!” the Kindler announced. “Trapinch wins the match! The challenger wins!”

Crystal let out a sigh of relief and relaxed as Trisha nearly collapsed, only to be returned abruptly to her PokeBall. “That’s a relief. I was worried that I’d have to have asked Richie to work for the whole team there.”

Flannery rubbed the back of her head, looking a little nervous as she chuckled. “Yeah, I guess so.” She returned Numel to her PokeBall. “Thank you for the battle. I think I understand what you meant about Gym Leaders and how they work with their Pokémon. Trying to act like I was intimidating just didn’t work for me – or my Pokémon, for that matter. It did look like Slugma was a little confused in the beginning of the match.”

Crystal nodded. “Yeah. Acting differently from what you normally do can really throw things off in a battle.” She rubbed the back of her head. “I don’t really like the idea that some Trainers try to act differently in battle than they do at any other time.”

“I can kind of see how that wouldn’t sit with you too well,” Flannery agreed. She dug in a back pocket for a moment before pulling out a piece of metal with a glimmer of red on it. “Here – this is my Gym’s Badge.”

“Thanks.” Crystal walked forward and accepted the Badge, looking over the design. “Wow, this looks like I’m holding an actual flame…this is pretty cool.”

“It’s my grandpa’s old design,” Flannery explained proudly. “And this is something he helped make, too.” She pulled out a disk. “This is TM50 – Overheat. It’s a powerful Fire-Type move, but it really lowers your special attack if you do use it.”

Crystal nodded in response, accepting the disk. “Okay. Thanks. I’ll definitely try to see if I might be able to use it in the future.” She frowned a little and cocked her head to one side. “Hey…are you related to Blaine? The Gym Leader on Cinnabar Island?”

“Blaine?” Flannery blinked. “He’s my uncle, actually. How do you know him?”

Crystal rubbed the back of her head, blushing a little. “He’s really close to me. I’ve known him every since I was born.”

“Really?” Flannery blinked a couple times, then frowned and pointed at Crystal. “Hey, wait…you said your name was Crystal, right? You’re not the same Crystal who Brawly called my grandfather about, are you? The one who came in from Kanto and is doing something about Team Magnus?”

Crystal blinked a couple times when she heard Flannery’s question. “Uh…yeah, that’s right. Why do you ask?”

Flannery frowned, one finger wagging in the air as she gained a lost in thought expression. “I think that Uncle Blaine mentioned something about him making a new friend a while back…I’ve been meaning to call him for a while, so this sounds like a good time to do it. Come on; let’s go to my house and ring him up.”


	50. Chapter 50

Flannery’s house wasn’t a very big one, but it was definitely cozy – plus, it was next to the hot springs, which made it easy to get to after a quick visit to the Pokémon Center.

“So, you really are part Pokémon?” Flannery asked as she set down a tray of tea on the table. “I didn’t think that something like that was something that could happen.”

Crystal glanced over at the window for a moment, then nodded in agreement as her ears and tail appeared. “It is something that is a little crazy, but it isn’t impossible.” She motioned to her Mew appendages, which got a wide-eyed look from Flannery and her Torkoal and Numel.

“Whoa.” Flannery blinked a couple times, then shook her head in order to clear her mind. “And Uncle Blaine knows about this?”

Crystal hesitated for a moment, then nodded, her mouth in a straight line. “Yeah. If you want to hear the story, it’d probably be best if you heard it from him.”

Richie hummed a little, looking concerned from his seat next to his Trainer. Crystal noticed, and she gave him a reassuring smile and squeezed one of the Gallade’s shoulders.

Flannery considered Crystal’s statement for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I’m definitely going to have to see if I can ask him about that.” She reached over to the computer-like phone and pressed in a few numbers on the touch screen. “Thanks for letting me know that Uncle Blaine was with Professor Oak. I wouldn’t have known where to call since his Gym kinda exploded.”

“Well, he’s helping Oak out with something, so it’d make sense that he would be hanging around the lab,” Crystal responded. She smiled a little. “Blaine wants me to go and get a Fire-Type, but I’m not exactly sure what Pokémon I want to end up choosing to go look for. There are just so many, I don’t know….”

Flannery smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I felt the same way, but there are only a few Fire-Types around here – the three that I’m using, actually. I kind of wish that I could use ones from other regions, but unfortunately, I haven’t been able to get one yet.”

_::Well, if you’re looking for a Fire-Type, I’d be more than willing to help::_

“Uncle Blaine!” Flannery looked at the screen in surprise. “How long were you listening in?”

 _::Just long enough to hear you say that you wanted more Fire-Types::_ Blaine grinned widely. _::Is there a specific Pokémon that you’re looking for? There’s a bunch of them from other regions around here right now, and I’m sure that there’s something here that might be interesting::_ Blaine looked over at Crystal. _::Which reminds me! I’m glad that you called in today, Crystal. I hope you haven’t forgotten what today is::_

Crystal blinked a couple times. “Today?” She gained a sheepish expression. “I’m afraid I have. Sorry, Blaine – it’s been a while since I’ve been able to relax. Magnus almost made a volcano go off a few days ago, and I’ve been staying in a town called Lavaridge for the past few days. I beat Flannery a little while earlier, actually.”

 _::Oh, really?::_ Blaine sighed and shook his head. _::Well, that’s definitely something that makes me think you take after me::_ Blaine gave Crystal and Flannery a grin. _::It’s your birthday, you silly nine-year-old! Happy birthday!::_

Crystal’s eyes widened in surprise when she heard that. “My – oh! I can’t believe I forgot!”

“You’re only _nine?_ ” Flannery asked incredulously. “B-but you look—“

“Like I’m a teenager?” Crystal repeated, smirking at Flannery. The smirk faded a little. “I was made to look like that. It just happened like that.”

Blaine let out a coughing noise. _::Yes, well…. Enough about that for now. Crystal, have you picked up a Fire-Type yet?::_

Crystal shook her head. “I haven’t. The Fire-Type Pokémon living around here are Slugma, and two Hoenn Pokémon called Torkoal and Numel. While Numel looks kinda cute, I don’t think that it’s quite the Pokémon that I’m looking for.”

 _::Really?::_ Blaine grinned. _::Well, all the better for your birthday gift! You’ll have to wait for it until you get back from Hoenn, though. I think you’re going to find her absolutely adorable – and that’s not something I get to say often about Fire-Types!::_

“What is it?” Crystal’s ears perked up out of interest. “Is it a Pokémon I’ve heard of before?”

 _::Nope!::_ Blaine grinned. _::It’s a Pokémon that’s from an entirely different region. Do you want to meet her?::_

“Sure!” Crystal’s eyes brightened instantly. “I’d love to!”

Blaine chuckled. _::All right::_ He looked over to a spot off-screen and motioned for something to come over. _::Come over here, little one. There’s someone here that I want you to meet::_

_::Someone you want me to meet?::_

Crystal’s ears perked up attentively when she heard the child-like, curious voice of the Pokémon. Flannery covered her mouth in surprise when she heard it, as well, her eyes widening.

The Pokémon stepped into view the screen, revealing a small, yellow Pokémon with large ears with red tufts of fur coming out from inside them. Her nose twitched as she cocked her head to one side and looked at the screen curiously with red eyes.

 _::Uh…hi?::_ the Pokémon blinked a couple times. _::Crystal is the one with the pink ears, right?::_

Crystal smiled and gave a nod. “Yup; that’s me. Hi.”

Flannery made a cooing noise. “Oh my goodness, that Pokémon is so _cute!_ You are soooo lucky, Crystal!”

 _::This is a Pokémon called a Fennekin::_ Blaine explained, scratching the Pokémon between her ears. The Pokémon leaned into his hand, letting out a purring noise that caused Crystal to giggle. _::They’re native to the Kalos region, but they’re very hard to find. The Trainers there know them as the Fire Starter for their region. I thought that you might want a proper Fire-Type like most other Trainers would receive, and this one happens to be part Psychic for her final form::_

“Part Psychic?” Crystal repeated in surprise. “Wow. I didn’t think that there was a Fire-Type that was that.”

 _::Well, now you know::_ Blaine chuckled. _::So, what do you want to name your new Pokémon?::_

Crystal frowned and cocked her head to one side. “Hmm….a name….” Her frown deepened. “Maybe…Frieda?” She considered it for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah. That sounds good. What do you think?”

The Fennekin cocked her head to one side, then smiled and nodded. _::Sounds cool. I like it::_

 _::Frieda it is!::_ Blaine declared, laughing. He gained a more serious expression a moment later. _::Crystal, I’m guessing you’ve already told my niece that you are part Mew?::_

“Mew?” Flannery repeated in surprise. “I knew that she was part Pokémon, but she didn’t say that she was part _Mew._ Isn’t that a Legendary that’s in Kanto?”

Crystal’s ears twitched, and she blushed a little. “I didn’t mention that part, Blaine.”

 _::Oh. Well then::_ Blaine chuckled nervously. _::Although you have revealed yourself::_

“That’s true,” Crystal admitted, rubbing the back of her head. “Is there anything else that you wanted to talk about? Because I think that Flannery’s got a few questions for you about…y’know.”

Blaine’s expression became somber. _::I see::_

Flannery, noticing the look that was on her uncle’s face, held up her arms and said, “If you don’t want to talk about it—“

 _::No, no, it’s fine. But be warned, Flannery – this isn’t going to be something that is easy to swallow::_ Blaine sighed. _::Where do you want to start?::_

“How is Crystal nine years old when she looks like she’s fifteen, and she has the ears and tail of a Pokémon to boot?”

 _::Straight to the point, huh? All right; I’ll tell you. Crystal is the result of a project that took place nine years ago. She woke up on this day already looking like that::_ Blaine motioned to Crystal who nodded. _::She came around before her older brother did, so that came around as a bit of a shock to me. Flannery, I hope you don’t see me as someone who’s despicable, but….::_ Blaine sighed. _::Crystal was an after-effect of the Mewtwo project that Team Rocket was running. A project that I had gotten myself involved in.::_

Flannery’s eyes widened, and she looked over at Crystal, who ducked her head to avoid the Gym Leader’s gaze. “Moltres’ tail feathers….that’s….” She looked back at Blaine. “This is nuts! My uncle worked with Team Rocket?!”

“He wasn’t the one who made Mythos – Mewtwo – rampage in Celadon,” Crystal spoke up quickly. “That was another scientist, wasn’t it? Someone named….”

 _::Charon::_ Blaine supplied, grim. _::He’s a dangerous man, and although I haven’t met him personally, Capone has told me quite a few times that the man was someone that wasn’t right in his mind. If you end up running into him, be on your guard::_

“Right.” Crystal nodded.

_::So, what have you run into so far? I want to know how well you’re doing against those Magnus fellows that I’ve been hearing about::_

Crystal gained a serious expression. “They tried to make a volcano in the center of the region go off.”

“What?!” Flannery turned and looked at Crystal in shock. “I didn’t hear about that! When did that happen?!”

“Three days ago. The Cable Car was out, so they used that as a cover to get a good number of their people up Mt. Chimney. They were planning on using a meteorite in order to made the volcano erupt and do some major damage to the people living around it. I managed to stop them in time, and a friend took the Meteorite to the right people. I’m worried about what’s going to happen in the future, though. Those people…they don’t seem to have any thoughts of the environment.”

Blaine frowned. _::That’s definitely a problem. I would come to help you, but there are things that I have to help take care of here. I’ll come over there as soon as I can, but it’s going to take some time::_

“Thanks, Blaine.” Crystal gave a nod. “I’ll really appreciate the help.”

Blaine gave a smile and a nod in response. _::Good luck. And Flannery? I know you just recently became a new Gym Leader. Don’t be afraid to be yourself and design your Gym how you want to::_ He grinned. _::I’m known to be the craziest Gym Leader we’ve got here in Kanto, and absolutely nobody minds! So go ahead and do what you want!::_

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Flannery promised in reply, nodding. “Good luck on the work you’re doing!”

_::Why, thank you!::_

_::Bye, Crystal!::_ Frieda raised a paw and waved it. _::I hope we can meet again soon!::_

“Same here, Frieda,” Crystal agreed, nodding and smiling.

Blaine smiled at Flannery and Crystal, then reached forward and disconnected his part of the connection.

“So, Blaine’s your…dad?” Flannery looked at Crystal in confusion.

Crystal blinked at the question, then gained a sheepish expression and shrugged. “I never really thought about that – back then, when I was just getting used to the world around me, I didn’t really think all that much about who was my mother or who was my father. They kind of just…made me think that they were my…masters.” Crystal looked away as she finished saying her last word. “Blaine was the first one who made me stop thinking that, when he helped me get away from Team Rocket. So, I never really thought of anyone as being my parents, but I do have people that I think of as my older brothers and sister.”

Flannery blinked. “Well, I guess having three siblings is better than having nobody at all.”

“Yeah.” Crystal nodded in agreement. “And it’s good that I have my team, too.” She looked over at her team. “I’m glad that you guys are with me.”

“Me, too,” Richie spoke up as the other Pokémon nodded and spoke their agreement.

Flannery chuckled, then her eyes widened. “Oh, yeah! I’ve got another challenger at the Gym today! I should head back there so that I can take them on!”

Crystal blinked a couple time when she saw Flannery’s panicked expression, then chuckled. “Well, you’d better get moving, then! I don’t want to keep you from a challenger!”

“You can stay here for the rest of the day, if you want,” Flannery said as she ran for the door. “I’ll be back soon!”

**Time Break**

When Flannery returned, Crystal couldn’t help but be surprised when Flannery came back with Brendan and two pairs of goggles with thick lenses.

“Brendan?” Crystal blinked a couple times. “How’d you do?”

“I completely swept her team,” Brendan replied grinning hugely. “Zuzu handled them without a problem. You?”

“Trisha ended up carrying me most of the way, but Ando did help some.” Crystal looked down at the Trapinch and Anorith sitting on the floor by her feet. “I didn’t think that he’d go down with one hit from Torkoal’s Overheat, though. He mustn’t be just a Rock-type….” She paused to consider that for a moment, then shook her head. “I’ll think about it later.”

“It looks like a bug,” Flannery offered. “And bugs hate fire.”

“That does make sense….” Crystal gained a thoughtful expression.

“Anyway, since you guys managed to beat me, I figured that you could probably use something extra if you were interested in anything.” Flannery held out the two sets of goggles. “These are Go-Goggles. Ruin Maniacs and archeologists use them to search around the desert on Route 111. You can look for Ground-Types there, too, if you really want to find more Pokémon that you can use.”

“Really?” Brendan accepted one of the Go-Goggles, looking it over. “It might be cool to see what kinds of Pokémon live out there.”

“And I’ve heard from some people that a strange tower appears sometimes,” Flannery added. “Some people have said that there are strange carvings on the walls in inside, but the entire thing looks like an illusion.”

“A tower like an illusion…” Crystal frowned a little. “That might be something interesting to check out.”

“We should probably wait,” Richie spoke up. “A lot’s happened today.”

Crystal looked over at the Gallade, blinking for a moment. Then she looked at the rest of her team. “What do you guys think? Should we just wait until tomorrow to explore the desert?”

The Pokémon looked at each other for a moment, then looked back at Crystal and nodded.

“Do you guys want to head back to the Hot Springs?”

That question got a good number of nods in response.

Brendan smirked as Flannery laughed.

“Well, looks like you have the rest of your day planned out,” Flannery remarked. “Come on; let’s go and have a spa day.”


	51. Chapter 51

When Crystal came down into the cafeteria with her Pokémon the next morning, the Pokémon Egg sticking up out of her backpack, she was met with the rather unusual sight of a man covered head to toe in sand and looking like he was coming out of a panic attack.

“What’s going on?” Crystal asked as she came to a stop next to Brendan, who was standing at the back of the crowd that had surrounded the man.

“He just rushed in here, yelling at the top of his lungs about monsters living in the desert,” Brendan replied, glancing over at Crystal. “I’m not exactly sure what he means.”

“Monsters?” Crystal repeated, blinking. She frowned. “That’s …Hmmmm. I wonder if there’s something going on over in the desert.”

“There’s something going on out there, all right!”

Crystal turned when she heard the exclamation, and she saw that the man who had come in looking in her direction.

“There are monster Pokémon hiding in the desert!” the man continued. “They completely barricaded off Mirage Tower, which I had been researching. The creatures they are using look like no Pokémon that I’ve seen before! I don’t think that they’re native to Hoenn at all. I definitely haven’t seen them before, and I’ve been in that desert for months researching the ruins!” The man reached up for his head, as though he was about to tear his hair out.

“Mirage Tower?” Crystal’s invisible ears perked with interest, and she looked over at Brendan with a curious expression. “Wasn’t that the place that Flannery told us about? A tower that appears and disappears in the sandstorms?”

Brendan frowned. “I think so….but he mentioned Pokémon that aren’t native to Hoenn. What does _that_ mean?”

Crystal frowned in response. “Maybe there are Trainers who are terrorizing the area? If that’s true, we should head over there and get them to stop. People really shouldn’t bother researchers like that.”

“You’d do that?”

Crystal looked over when she heard the man’s question, and she blinked a couple times when she saw the eager, hopeful look that was on his face.

“You’d take care of the people who are causing all the trouble on Route 111?” the man asked.

Crystal nodded. “I’m willing to take care of them. You just stay here and recover from whatever it is that you ended up running into.”

“Oh, thank Arceus!” The man looked like he was about to collapse – which he promptly did, collapsing into a chair that happened to be conveniently behind him. “Now I can finally rest and without worrying.”

Crystal blinked a couple times at the man’s actions, then shook her head and looked over at Brendan. “Would you be willing to give me a hand?”

Brendan nodded. “Sure. I’d like to have a look around and see what’s going on in the desert.” He smirked. “I might be able to find a Pokémon in there that could join my team. This is gonna be fun.”

Crystal nodded. “Okay. Let’s go.”

**Time Break**

Crystal looked over at Brendan, fingering the goggles that were resting on her forehead. “You ready, Brendan?”

Brendan grinned and gave Crystal a thumbs-up in response as he pulled the goggles down over his eyes. “Let’s do this!”

Crystal smiled at her friend’s enthusiasm, then pulled down her own set of goggles over her eyes. “All right. Time to explore the desert and figure out what it is that’s going on.” She looked over at Trisha and Ando and gave the two of them a nod. “You two ready?”

Ando raised a claw while Trisha nodded.

“Okay.” Crystal turned and looked over at Brendan, gave him a nod, then turned and started into the desert.

Crystal had only taken a few steps onto the sand before she instantly started to feel the affects of the sandstorm. Instantly pulling up the hood of her pink jacket and zipped it up in order to keep the sand from slipping inside. Pulling out the bandanna that Crystal had gotten at Route 113, she tied it around her face. “The sandstorm here is really harsh! I didn’t think that something like this could get to be this bad!”

Brendan opened his mouth to speak, only to get a mouthful of sand before he quickly pulled out his own bandanna and tied it over his mouth. “Oh, wow. Yeah – Maxie didn’t say anything about it being this bad when he was in here a few days ago.”

“It’s never been this bad!” Trisha declared. “There are sandstorms constantly here, and there are one or two good days, but it’s never been like this!”

Crystal frowned, her tail twitching in annoyance as the pieces of sand slammed into it. Dropping her illusion, she commented, “Then something must be going on that’s causing the sandstorm to be this bad. Let’s have a look around and see what’s going on.” She turned to look at what was ahead of them and frowned when the sand started to slam into her Go-Goggles more vigorously. Her eyes started to glow a brighter blue as Crystal tried to find a different way to see what was ahead of them.

Brendan nodded in agreement, then released Zuzu. “All right, buddy. I’m going to need your help.”

“Whoa!” The Marshtomp looked around. “Man, this place is just full of sand all over the place! You’d better not let anyone else out!”

“I think he knows that already!” Trisha snapped back in response.

_“Guys!”_

Brendan, Trisha, Ando, and Zuzu looked at Crystal in surprise.

“Did I just hear you in my head?” Brendan asked, blinking.

 _“It’s better than having to deal with even little pieces of sand coming into my mouth.”_ Crystal frowned at the three of them. _“We have to focus. I know the sandstorm is bad – we’ve said that enough times – but it’s not bad enough that we can’t see. And even if we couldn’t, I’d still be able to tell where we were because I can use Aura Sight.”_ She pointed deeper into the desert. _“And it feels like there’s something off that way.”_

Brendan blinked a couple of times, then frowned and rubbed sand off his goggles before looking out in the direction Crystal was pointing. His eyes narrowed a little. “Huh…I think that I can see something, but it’s really hard to make out. It kinda keeps fading out.”

_“Yeah. I noticed that, too. But there are a lot of different auras around there. We’re going to have to be careful as we keep going forward. Trisha, you might want to dig around and see if there are any hidden traps.”_

Trisha blinked for a moment, then gave a nod and burrowed under the sand.

“Zuzu, you do that, too.” Brendan looked down at the Marshtomp.

Zuzu saluted, then looked over at the sand and dove underneath it.

Crystal nodded. _“Okay. With those two having a look around, we should be able to move forward all right. Since the sandstorm is so bad, we’ll only be able to rely on the Pokémon we have and what abilities I have access to. Are you ready?”_

Brendan blinked for a moment, then snorted. “I’m standing right here! What makes you think I’m not ready?”

Crystal smiled a little in response under her bandanna, and she gave a nod before turning her attention to the desert between them and the mirage-like tower in the distance.

As Crystal continued to keep her eyes locked on the tower ahead of them, Brendan’s eyes couldn’t help but wander around the desert. The sand was making it very hard to see very far in, but they were far enough in that Brendan was able to see for at least a short distance away from where they were standing.

Something suddenly moved passed in a blur, causing Brendan to turn his head sharply. He frowned when he found that there wasn’t anyone in sight.

“Uh, Crystal?” Brendan looked over at his Trainer companion curiously. “I think there’s something out there in the sand, and it’s moving pretty quickly, too.”

Crystal frowned in response. _“Something moving in the sand….”_

Before Crystal could ask or look to try and see what it was that Brendan saw, the sand in front of them suddenly exploded upward.

Crystal jumped back in surprise when she saw dark blurs suddenly burst up from the sand, followed closely by a pair of Sandslash.

“Aha!” One of the two figures pointed at Crystal in a dramatic manner. “You’re that person that Diamond told us about! The Mew Girl he ran into in Mural Cavern! You’re Crystal!”

Crystal shifted her stance a little, then looked down at the Anorith. _“Ando, be ready. Those Sandslash could do with a good soaking.”_

Ando raised his claws in response while Crystal turned her attention to the two figures. _“I am Crystal. What’s it to you?”_

The two looked at each other. Now that they were closer and definitely not hiding in the sand, it was easy to see that the two of them seemed to be ninjas dressed for the sandy weather.

“We didn’t think that you could talk using your mind,” one of the sand ninjas commented. He looked like he was going to say something else, but then his friend elbowed him in the gut.

“Don’t you dare say anything else!” the second one hissed.

_“Now! While they’re distracted!”_

Ando raised his claws and fired the Water Gun, hitting one of the Sandslash square in the chest.

The Ground-Type stumbled back, spluttering. “H-hey! Who hit me?!”

Crystal nodded in approval. _“Good. Keep going with that one; we’ll focus our attention on the other one.”_

As if in response, Ando burrowed a little under the sand, leaving his upper half somewhat visible as he fired off another Water Gun at the Sandslash.

Brendan started to reach for one of his PokeBalls, but then he hesitated and dropped his hand a moment later when he remembered that he didn’t want to let any of his Pokémon out right now – the sandstorm was too bad for any non-Ground, Rock, or Steel-Type Pokémon to handle. So instead, he started looking around to see if he could spot anyone else who might be nearby.

Meanwhile, the two sand ninjas looked at Crystal with shocked expressions before they quickly changed into anger.

“Hey!” the second one barked. “What do you think you’re doing, huh?! Kids like you should know that you shouldn’t be messing with other people’s stuff!”

 _“I am Crystal, remember?”_ Crystal smirked slyly under her bandanna. _“I’ve been causing trouble for all of you since I arrived here in Hoenn. Or do I need to say anything about what happened in Littleroot?”_

The two ninjas didn’t seem to like that very much, as they instantly tensed at Crystal’s words.

“That’s it!” The second ninja barreled forward immediately, bringing back a fist. “You’re gonna pay for what you did back there!”

Crystal sidestepped the attack with a little hop, hovering in the air a couple inches off the ground.

 _“If you want to fight like that, then take this!”_ Crystal slammed down on the man’s head with her fists clenched together. The sand ninja was slammed into the ground as a response, letting out a pained noise and reaching up and rubbing his head. _“I’m not just able to use telepathy.”_

“We were warned about this,” the still-standing sand ninja groaned, facepalming. “They said that she was really smart, remember? Diamond ran into her before! He said that she could use Pokémon abilities!”

Ando fired a third Water Gun, getting the Sandslash he had been aiming for again. The Ground-Type reeled for a moment, then managed to find his balance.

It was at this point that Zuzu suddenly exploded up from the ground – right underneath the other Sandslash that had yet to get hit.

“Oi!” The Sandslash landed on the ground, sending more sand flying up into the air. “Hey! You don’t sneak up on people like that!”

“There are a whole lot of weird-looking Pokémon Trainers hiding in the sand around here!” Zuzu exclaimed. “Trisha’s prankin’ them, but we don’t have very much time to catch them off guard!”

 _“Good job!”_ Crystal gave a thumbs-up to the Marshtomp. _“Ando, keep going with the Water Gun! I’ll give you some help, as well.”_

Ando scraped his claws together, then fired off another Water Gun, catching the Sandslash one more time and sending it off its feet, clearly knocked out.

“Nice one!” Zuzu gave Ando a thumbs-up and a grin before turning to look over at the Sandslash that was still standing. “But you’re not the only one that can do stuff like that! Water Gun!”

The resulting blast of water took out the Sandslash without needing a second blast.

“Yes!” Zuzu fist-pumped while Brendan grinned under his bandanna and the two sand ninjas looked at the two of them with wide eyes. “Take that, you overgrown Sandshrews!”

The ninja that had been knocked to the ground leapt to his feet. “You guys aren’t going to be able to last for very long out here! We’ll see to that!”

 _“I’d like to see you try,”_ Crystal replied, a knowing gleam in her eye. She raised one hand and made a motion. Instantly, the stand that was swirling around in the storm started hitting four invisible walls and an invisible ceiling about a foot above their heads.

“Barrier,” Crystal said verbally, letting out a sigh of relief. “All right. How about you two tell us what it is that you guys are up to around here? I’m guessing that you’re planning something that has something to do with that Mirage Tower over there.” She pointed towards the flickering building in the distance.

“What’s it to you?” the second sand ninja responded in a snarky manner, scowling. “You’re not going to be able to stop us!”

“Really?” Brendan stepped forward, grabbing one of his PokeBalls. “We just got our fourth Gym Badges. I doubt that you can stand against Trainers who have that kind of power.”

The two ninjas looks at each other, then burst out laughing.

“You really think that you can take on our boss?” the second ninja demanded. “You’d be dead before you would even have a chance of beating him!”

Crystal and Brendan exchanged looks for a moment before looking over at the sand ninjas with somewhat blank expressions. Then Crystal raised a hand and made an odd motion with one of her hands while her eyes glowed with an eerie light. A mere moment later, the two sand ninjas collapsed to the ground.

Crystal adjusted the bandanna around her mouth, frowning at the two now-sleeping ninjas. “Okay. I’m going to pull down the Barrier so that we can keep moving forward.”

“What about these guys?” Brendan motioned to the two knocked out sand ninjas.

“Considering that they are wearing clothes that are protecting them from the sandstorm, I think they’re going to be all right.” Crystal paused. “Plus, I think that there might be someone hanging around who teleports these guys out of danger before they can be caught. I haven’t figured out who it is yet, but it sounds a lot like Magnus managed to somehow find a way to….” Crystal hesitated.

“To what?” Brendan asked, frowning.

“To make someone like me.”

Zuzu looked at Crystal with a wide-eyed expression. “Seriously?”

“I’m really hoping that it isn’t true, but I don’t really know yet. I haven’t seen whoever-it-is yet.” Crystal looked around at her Barrier for a moment, frowning a little, then raised one hand. “You ready for this, Brendan?”

Brendan gave a nod. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

Crystal gave a nod, then dropped her arm, the Barrier coming with it. Instantly, the group was bombarded by the sand the sandstorm was hurling around.

Zuzu let out a gagging noise. “Okay, I’m going back under the sand to see if there’s anything I can do to help that Trapinch!”

 _“We’ll meet you at the entrance to the Mirage Tower,”_ Crystal said, nodding.

Zuzu gave Crystal a nod, then saluted Brendan before diving back under the sand.

“Okay; let’s keep going.” Brendan turned and started forward. Crystal followed after him, taking an almost casual, hovering step across the sand.

Crystal looked around as they went, blinking a little. She frowned. _“I’m not sensing any other human or Pokemon presences around here…something tells me that Zuzu and Trisha are doing their jobs and are driving the Magnus Trainers off.”_

The ground in front of the group sudden started bunching up, revealing the head of a Trapinch.

“Crystal! Zuzu and I have managed to scare the Magnus members into going inside the tower,” Trisha exclaimed. “It should be safe to go in now!”’

 _“Thanks!”_ Crystal gave the Trapinch a thumbs-up. _“Where’s the entrance?”_

Zuzu popped up out of the sand. “It’s over this way! Come on!”


	52. Mirage Tower

When Crystal and the others stepped inside the tower, the two human members of the group pulled off their bandannas and pushed their goggles off their eyes.

“Wow.” Brendan looked around at the room that they had arrived in. “I didn’t think that a place that’s made of sand and looks this run-down could last for this long.”

Crystal took a look around herself, frowning a little. “Well, whoever had built this probably built so that it could stand against the sandstorm.” She walked over to one of the walls and paused, frowning a little when she saw what looked like carvings in the sand-colored stone. “Huh. This looks kind of like what they had in Granite Cave.” Crystal motioned Brendan over. “Come over here and have a look at this.”

“Granite Cave?” Brendan walked over, frowning a little. “Where’s that?”

“It’s on Dewford Island.” Crystal pointed at the carving on the wall. “This here looks like it’s some kind of map, but I can’t really tell what it is.”

Brendan looked at the section of wall that Crystal was looking at, frowning curiously. “Huh. Yeah, it does kinda look like a map of Hoenn. It looks a little different from what it normally does, though – I mean, look at all of these islands.” He motioned to the map that was set up there. “I didn’t think that there were this many islands around Hoenn. There definitely weren’t that many last time that I checked.”

Crystal frowned. “I wonder what exactly that means, if you haven’t seen that many islands on a map before….” She looked over at Brendan. “Maybe it means that some islands ended up disappearing over time?”

“Maybe.” Brendan frowned a little. “I’m definitely going to have to ask Dad about what he thinks about it when I head home.” He looked around the room for a moment longer before looking over at the spiral staircase that was in the center of the room. “We need to find out what’s going on around here first, though, and it doesn’t look like whoever it is that’s causing all this trouble is anywhere on this floor of the tower.”

Crystal nodded, turning and looking away from the map. “Yeah. I wonder what’s going to be ahead of us.” She started towards the stairs with determined steps, Ando and Trisha following on either side of her. Brendan followed after them with Zuzu keeping pace with him.

The second floor of the Tower was a sight that Crystal had been expecting on the first floor: a small number of sand ninjas and a number of Pokémon that looked a lot like Ground-Types – there were some Sandslash, but there were other Pokémon that Crystal didn’t recognize.

The two Trainers and their Pokémon were noticed immediately by the sand ninjas.

“Hey!” A figure standing next to a brown and black-striped crocodile Pokémon pointed at the two in an accusing manner. “How did you two manage to get in here?! We had guards outside the Tower so that nobody would be able to get in!”

Someone else in the room let out what sounded like a screech. “That’s the Mew Girl Unit Leader Diamond told us about!”

Brendan frowned. “Diamond? Who’s that?”

Crystal blinked a couple times before frowning. “He was one of the people who was at Granite Cave – he felt like a Ground-Type, but I wasn’t able to tell which Ground-Type he was. We’re going to have to keep our guard up as we head deeper into the tower.”

Brendan gave a nod, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face. “Ok then.” He looked over at Zuzu. “You ready for this?”

The Marshtomp gave a thumbs-up motion in reply. “You know it! I’m ready for these guys!”

Brendan gave a nod, then looked over at Crystal as he reached for the unopened PokeBalls on his belt. “Are you ready?”

Crystal blinked a couple times, then gave a smile and nodded in response. Reaching for her own two unopened PokeBalls, she declared, “All right, team! Take them out!”

The two PokeBalls exploded, releasing Richie and Samuel, instantly catching the attention of the Ground-Types that were sitting out.

Richie landed on the floor and instantly shifted into a stance that clearly seemed to say that he was ready for a fight. The expression that was on Samuel’s face clearly seemed to say that he was ready for the same.

“Go ahead and go all out on the Pokémon, guys,” Crystal directed. “We need to get up the tower and find out what’s going on. Go!”

At Crystal’s exclamation, Samuel practically launched himself at the nearest Sandslash and slammed one elastic arm into the Pokémon’s face, sending it skidding back a short distance. Richie moved a moment later, dashing to the side while unleashing a barrage of Magical Leaf attacks at the closest Pokémon, which happened to be three of the crocodile-like Ground-Types that Crystal had caught sight of when she had come up.

Crystal looked around as Brendan released the rest of his team and gave them similar instructions. Seeing that the Pokémon were easily keeping each other busy, she made a beeline straight for one of the sand ninjas standing by the stairs. “Hey!”

The man jumped at Crystal’s voice, then looked at her with a clearly panicked expression in his eyes.

“What do you people want with this tower?” Crystal asked, coming to a stop in front of the sand ninja. “And why do you keep driving people away when you Magnus people come to an area of the region?”

The ninja stared at Crystal for a moment, then burst out into a confident bark of laughter. “Do you really think that we’re going to tell you just because you ask? You’re a real idiot if you think that’s going to be enough!”

Crystal didn’t respond verbally to the ninja’s exclamation; instead, she slammed an arm into his chest and sent the ninja crashing to the ground while yelling, “Gravity!”

Everyone in the room instantly felt the affects of the environment-manipulating move, slowing down and suddenly finding it much harder to move.

The ninja lying underneath Crystal let out a gasp of shock as Taylor let out a squawk and crashed to the ground, colliding with one of the crocodile-like Ground-Types.

“Tell me what’s going on, and I’ll let up,” Crystal said in a determined fashion. “Don’t, and I’ll use another one. And while one Gravity adds a quarter of your total weight, a second one makes you weigh one and a half times more than you usually do.”

The ninja stuttered, trying to catch his breath, which looked rather difficult with all the added extra weight on his chest. Crystal figured that he probably wasn’t going to suffocate quite yet, though, so she remained where she was.

“A-all right! I’ll tell you!” the ninja finally yelled. “Just GET OFF ME!”

Crystal blinked a couple times when she heard the man’s exclamation, then pulled away from his chest a little. “All right. What are you doing here?”

“I-I don’t know. The Big Boss wanted us to have a look around at the stuff that’s around here. All we’re finding is stupid old carvings and stuff! I don’t even know why they’re so interested in something like this! You have to believe me!”

Crystal frowned at the ninja’s statement, mentally reaching out in order to see if he was telling the truth. When she saw that there really wasn’t anything else in his mind, she pulled back and got off the sand ninja and rose to her feet. Then she made a motion, and the gravity returned to normal right as Ando finished blasting a Graveler with a Water Gun, fainting it in the process.

“What was that move just now?” Brendan bounced a couple times on his feet, swinging his arms. “It felt like I had a Vigoroth sitting on my shoulders.”

“Gravity is a move that makes everything heavier for a while,” Crystal explained, deciding against asking what a Vigoroth was. Looking around and noticing that there were a good number of ninjas lying on the floor, she looked towards the stairs. “We should keep going up. The leader of this group is probably up there somewhere.”

Richie nodded in agreement, starting towards the stairs. “All right. Let’s go.”

The third floor had more sand ninjas and more Ground-Type Pokémon – all of which were easily defeated by Crystal’s and Brendan’s teams. A few times, Crystal looked back at her backpack to make sure that the Egg that was hiding there was doing all right, but other than that, she made sure to keep her attention focused on the sand ninjas and their Pokémon. Luckily, she didn’t have to use any of her abilities in order to take down the opponents’ Pokémon.

“Well, that’s that.” Brendan clapped his hands together as though he was wiping dust off them, then turned and looked up the stairs that were in the center of the room. “Think there’s going to be more of these guys up there? Or are we finally going to run into the guy who’d been causing all this trouble?”

Crystal frowned, then focused on her Aura Sight, bringing that familiar blue glow to her eyes as she looked at the floor above them. “It looks like there’s only one person up there….and I think the aura’s familiar somehow – it’s hard to tell with the ceiling above us in the way.” She released her hold on the ability and looked over at Brendan. “The leader of the group is probably right up ahead of us.”

Brendan blinked at that, then gave a grin and nodded. “All right, then! Let’s head up there and show him who’s boss!”

Crystal smiled and nodded in agreement before turning and heading up the staircase. “All right, then. Let’s go.”

The stairs that led up to the next floor were somewhat shorter than the stairs that led up from the previous floors. As a result, the group stepped into the last floor far sooner than Crystal had been expecting.

“I should have expected that you were coming, but I didn’t think that you’d get here so quickly,” remarked a familiar figure standing in the center of the room. “Hi again, Crystal.”

“Diamond,” Crystal responded, eyes narrowing a little. “What do you want with the Mirage Tower?”

Diamond shrugged. “It’s not really what I want with it so much as what the team wants with it. I just came to have a look around and keep other people out if they get too curious. And that counts for you guys, too, by the way.” He started to reach for his belt, then paused, cocking his head to one side. “You know, you noticed that I was a Ground-Type when we ran into each other. Have you figured out what I am yet?”

Crystal blinked at the sudden statement from Diamond.

“What you are?” Brendan repeated. “You mean, a specific Pokémon or something?”

“Yeah.” Crystal nodded absently. “I still don’t know what he is.”

Diamond gained a pouting expression. “Aw, come on! Really? And I’d put so much work into that sandstorm to give you a hint, too!”

“The sandstorm?” Crystal repeated in surprise.

“You’re the reason it’s so bad?!” Trisha demanded harshly, stepping forward.

Diamond gave a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his head while Crystal looked confused at the sudden change in attitude. “Well, I can’t exactly hold it in all the time. And if you’re going to figure out what I am, it’s going to come in here, too.”

“Why?” Brendan asked, frowning.

“Because it’s my ability.” Diamond started reaching for his hat. “I’m a Hippopotas. It’s a Pokémon from the Sinnoh region.”

Crystal blinked for a moment, then frowned and reached up for her goggles. “Hippopotas…? I definitely haven’t heard of that Pokémon before.”

“Well, you didn’t guess it, so I’m not surprised.” Diamond’s cheery smile faded, and a more determined expression replaced it as he pulled off his hat, revealing a pair of small, brown ears that twitched and wiggled for a moment.

It didn’t take too long for the sand to start to pick up from the corners of the room. Crystal yanked down the Go-Goggles instantly and pulled up her bandanna a moment later, Brendan following suit a moment later when he noticed what she was doing.

“Sand Stream!” Diamond exclaimed, holding his arms out to either side as the sand suddenly exploded into a swirling tornado around Crystal, Brendan, Diamond, and the Pokémon.

Crystal instinctively raised an arm to block the blast of sand that hit her in the face, flinching when the sand hit her hard. _“Richie! Samuel! You guys should go back—“_

“No!” Richie barked back. He let out a gagging noise as some of the sand flew into his open mouth. “I’m not leaving! I’m going to help fight, too!”

Crystal’s eyebrows came together as she gained an expression of concern behind her goggles, but she nodded in response. _“If that’s how you feel about it….”_ She turned to look at Diamond, who had a hand on one of the PokeBalls at his waist. _“You’re going to start sending out Ground-Types now, then?”_

Diamond didn’t verbally respond; instead, he unclipped one of three PokeBalls from his belt while giving a small smile to Crystal and Brendan. Then he tossed the PokeBall into the air, releasing a small Pokémon with brown patches all over his body. A pair of ears – similar to the ones on top of Diamond’s head – twitched a little as he looked around at the area before his gaze settled on Crystal and Brendan.

 _“Ando, Water Gun!”_ Crystal ordered quickly.

“Zuzu—“

“Two against one isn’t really fair,” Diamond spoke up, catching Brendan by surprise. “I’ll let you fight the other Ground-Type on my team. Krokorok!”

Diamond’s second PokeBall burst open, releasing a Pokémon that looked similar to the crocodile-like Pokémon Brendan and Crystal had seen on the previous floor. This one, however, stood on two legs and looked a little more menacing than it’s four-legged counterparts.

Crystal frowned at the crocodile Pokémon, feeling something in her chest clench up. There was something off about it….

Crystal’s attention was taken away from the new Pokémon when Ando successfully blasted the hippo-like Ground-Type. Her eyes widened in surprise when she found that there was a _lot_ more water being blasted than she had been expecting.

“Brine!” Ando exclaimed, pride clear in his voice.

Zuzu, not to be outdone, blasted a Water Gun at his opponent, sending the croc skidding back a short distance before it managed to regain some traction and move back to where it had been standing a moment ago.

Diamond didn’t look the least bit worried about what was going on in front of him. Then again, he didn’t look pleased, either. “Krokorok, Hippopotas – you know what to do.”

Krokorok gave a nod in response, then raised a foot at the same time that the Hippo-like Pokémon – Hippototas, apparently – did the same.

Crystal suddenly found herself happy that she was able to make herself levitate, and she jumped up before remembering a moment later that Brendan was going to need to be able to avoid the attack.

Plus….

 _“Ando!”_ Crystal cried. _“Brine! Quickly!”_

“Zuzu!” Brendan barked.

“Right!” The Marshtomp shifted his stance, took in a breath, then spat out another Water Gun at Krokorok at the same time that Ando shot out the Brine.

At the same time, Krokorok and Hippopotas slammed down their feet on the floor of the room, causing the area to start shaking as the two Ground-Types collapsed.

“Whoa!” Brendan stumbled for a moment before Crystal grabbed him and lifted him up off the ground a little.

Crystal grunted, gritting her teeth. _“You’re…really heavy.”_

“Maybe you should use Strength!” Brendan shouted back over the shaking of the tower.

_"I don't know that move yet!"_

Diamond frowned unhappily as he returned his two knocked-out Pokémon, and he let out a sigh. “I’d hoped that wouldn’t have happened….” He pulled out his cap and planted it on top of his head; the sandstorm started to die down. He sighed. “Oh, well. Looks like we’ll have to do without that particular thing.” He held out one hand, keeping his gaze on Crystal and Brendan as a bright flash appeared, originating from behind him.

A moment later, Diamond was gone, the sandstorm disappearing with him. However, the room continued to shake.

“The entire tower must be coming apart!” Brendan yelled. “We need to get out of here! Zuzu, come back!”

“Right!” Crystal nodded in agreement. “Ando! Samuel! Richie!”

The four Pokémon retreated into their PokeBalls – Ando only doing so because Crystal had called his name as the Anorith had, once again, been knocked out by the Earthquake that was still ongoing.

Crystal was about ready to Teleport them out of the tower and back to the Lavaridge Pokémon Center when Brendan shouted, “Wait! There’s something sitting over there!”

Crystal turned her head at Brendan’s cry, and she found herself blinking in surprise when she caught sight of what looked like a small chunk of rock with a strange-looking shape sticking out of it – kind of like a stamp of some kind, but not quite.

“What is it?” Crystal asked over the noise of the rumbling tower. She found herself partially amazed that it hadn’t started collapsing in on them yet, but she figured that was probably going to change rather quickly.

“I don’t know, but if that Diamond guy was here, it might be important!” Brendan called back. “Let’s grab it and get out of here!”

Crystal nodded in agreement, then flew over so that she was hovering above the chunk of rock. She lowered Brendan down so that he could quickly scoop it up, and then the two of them Teleported out of the tower.

A moment later, the entire Mirage Tower collapsed, much to the horror of the Ruin Maniacs who happened to be in the desert nearby.


	53. Chapter 53

Crystal breathed in the fresh air as she stepped out of the Petalburg Woods, Richie, Ando, Samuel, and Trisha walking close behind her.

Samuel stretched his arms above his head for a moment before they slammed back under the fronds around his neck, grinning. “It feels so good to be home.”

Trisha’s eyes narrowed a little as she looked over at the beach near them. “There’s too much water….”

“We probably won’t be in the area too long,” Crystal replied, looking back at the Trapinch. “But I think we’re going to end up running into a lot of water when we head to our next destination, though. Sorry, Trisha.”

Trisha didn’t look too happy with Crystal’s statement.

"And Samuel, we probably won't be able to stick around for very long." She nodded to the Breloom. "Besides, I'm going to need you for the Gym match here in Petalburg."

The grin on Samuel's face faded a little. "Yeah, yeah, I get it."

It had been a day since the Mirage Tower’s collapse – much to any ruin researcher’s dismay, as they had lost any chance to have a look inside it themselves. Brendan and Crystal had traveled back to Verdanturf and gone through the – surprisingly – now-completed tunnel that went straight back to Rustboro. After visiting the Devon Corporation with the rock Brendan had picked up – which one of the Ruin Maniacs had confirmed to be a Pokémon’s fossil – Crystal decided she would go on ahead to Petalburg so that she could get started on her Gym challenge, rather than stick around to see what sort of Pokémon was going to be cloned from the fossil Brendan had rescued from the tower’s collapse.

"Let's exchange numbers. That way, the next time we see each other, I want to challenge you to see how strong we both are." Brendan had given Crystal a large grin before she had left Rustboro.

And so, Crystal was now walking along the path into Petalburg, her four Pokémon around her as the sun above was slowly starting to set.

“So, now we can challenge Norman, right?” Richie asked, looking over at his Trainer curiously.

Crystal nodded in response. “Yeah. We’ve got the four Badges, like he said we should get, so we should be able to battle him for his Badge.” She paused. “If his Gym’s still open. I hope it is.”

“It should be,” Ando said in response.

There weren’t any Trainers or Pokémon to give the group any trouble as they made their way towards the town. Crystal suspected that any Trainers that had been out and about earlier had retired for the day. Maybe they lived nearby and they didn’t feel like heading out beyond the comforts of their own home just yet?

“So, we're gonna clobber him now, right?” Samuel jumped from one foot to the other as they entered the town, looking like he was ready to leap at something at any moment.

Crystal shook her head. “It’s late; even if he’s kept the Gym open while waiting for us, he’s going to have closed it for the day. We should head to the Pokémon Center and turn in so that we can take him on tomorrow.”

Samuel frowned at Crystal’s statement, looking a little sour. “Hmph. Fine.”

Crystal gave the Breloom a small, somewhat apologetic smile before turning and starting across the main square towards the Pokémon Center.

They were almost to the building’s doors when someone yelled.

“Excuse me!”

Crystal turned her head when she heard the woman’s voice, blinking in confusion as her Pokémon team turned and followed her gaze. Catching sight of an unfamiliar woman running towards them from a house next to the Gym, she asked hesitantly, “Yes? Can I help you?”

“You’re Crystal, right?” The woman came to a stop in front of the group, taking in a quick gasp of breath before she kept going. “My husband’s been waiting for you – he thought you’d be back here by now.”

Crystal frowned. “Your husband?”

“Norman.”

Crystal’s eyes widened at the woman’s response. “Norman’s your husband?”

The woman nodded, smiling a little. “We’ve already got dinner on the table. Come on – I insist you join us.”

Crystal blinked in surprise at the invitation. “R-really?”

The woman nodded. “Do you want to join us?”

Crystal considered it for a moment, then gave a smile. “Sure. We’d be glad to join you.”

The woman’s smile broadened, and she quickly turned and motioned for the group to follow her as she walked back towards the house she had come from. A moment later, the group was entering the house and stepping into a small dining room, where Norman was standing and waiting.

Crystal was surprised to see that Norman was in a better mood than when she had last seen him, and he had what looked like an almost-smirk that definitely fit the Gym Leader.

“Crystal.” Norman nodded in greeting. “You look like you’re doing well. That’s quite the mixed team you have there.”

Crystal rubbed the back of her head, looking somewhat embarrassed as she looked at her team. “Yeah, definitely. I really like my team members, though -- it feels good to be able to mix Types like this. It's actually something that I've never really done very much of before.”

Norman chuckled. “That’s definitely a good thing.” He motioned to the table. “Come on; let’s have dinner; I have Pokémon food here for your team, too, so don’t worry about having to go to the Pokemon Center.”

“Thanks.” Crystal sat down in the open, offered seat, while Norman’s wife moved to lay out bowls of Pokémon food for Crystal’s team. “We’ve just walked from Rustboro, so we haven’t really had a chance to sit and rest for long.”’

“That eager to fight me, huh?” Norman grinned, but that faded a moment later to a more serious look. “You do have four Badges, right?”

Crystal nodded, then pulled her Badge case out of her backpack and showed the Gym Leader its contents.

Norman nodded in approval at the four Badges that sat inside the case. “Good job. I’d heard from the other Gym Leaders that you were coming, but I wanted to make sure that you had all the Badges before I let you into my Gym.”

Crystal blinked at that, then gave a slight nod before closing the case and putting it away. “So…you know about—“

“You don’t need to say anything about it now." Norman gave a wide grin. "How about you tell me what you’ve been doing against Team Magnus instead?”

Norman’s wife looked at Crystal in surprise. “You’ve been the one who’s been fighting Team Magnus?!”

Crystal gained an embarrassed expression and rubbed the back of her head. “I-I haven’t been alone. I’ve had Gold and other people to help me. May and Brendan have been giving me a little help, and there's a Pokemon Ranger who's come to Hoenn, too.”

"Start at the beginning," Norman urged. "I've heard some things about what has happened from the other Gym Leaders, but I'd like to hear it from you."

With that, Crystal launched into an explanation of what had happened, starting with what had happened in Petalburg Woods with Lauraina and working her way through the different Magnus events from there. Since Norman knew about her abilities, she went ahead and included everything that had happened, not even leaving anything out. Norman’s wife didn’t look at all confused, so Crystal supposed that she already knew about her abilities.

Unfortunately, this also meant that Crystal ended up telling Norman and his wife about Ruby's appearance on Mt. Chimney, and Sapphire's just north of Slateport.

By the time that Crystal had finished talking about Mirage Tower's destruction and her journey back to Petalburg, Norman had a dark look on his face – and an equally dark aura over him. Without saying a word, he got up from the table and left, leaving behind his partially uneaten dinner.

Norman’s wife and Crystal watched him go, concerned.

Crystal gave a nervous hum in response to Norman walking off. “I thought he wasn’t going to be happy, but…nothing like that.”

Norman’s wife nodded slightly in agreement, her own expression showing how panicked and concerned she was. She looked over at Crystal. “I know those two; Sapphire and Ruby would never do something like this without having some kind of important reason. They might be being forced to do this kind of thing, and they can’t tell us that they are. Please, make sure that they’re all right, and bring them home safely. I don't want my children to get even more deeply drawn into this than they already are.”

Crystal gained a serious expression, then gave a nod in response. “I will. Don’t worry.”

Norman’s wife nodded in response. “I won’t. Not with someone like you going after them and stopping them.”

Crystal gave a slight smile at that. "I'm glad you think that way."

“Well, how could I not? Now, since you’re done, do you think you can give me a hand with the dishes while you tell me about the other things you’ve done as a Trainer? You did focus a lot on Magnus.”

And so, for the second time that night, Crystal found herself speaking again about her journey across Hoenn -- and Kanto, when she was asked about that as well.

"You know, you don't have to keep them hidden."

"Hmmm?" Crystal looked up from the soapy sink of dishes at the statement.

Norman's wife placed the cooking pot in the cupboard and closed the doors. "Your...well, whatever it is that Norman says it is you're hiding."

Crystal blinked at that, then gained an expression of nervous understanding. "Um...are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure." The woman gave a smile. "There's no reason to hide anything here."

Crystal blinked again, looking over at her Pokemon, who had gathered around the table after finishing off their dinners. After a moment, she looked away from them and nodded to herself before dropping the illusion, revealing that her tail had partially curled itself around her and her ears were somewhat flicked back.

Norman's wife let out a soft gasp, causing one of Crystal's ears to flick towards her. "Oh, my...."

Crystal's tail uncurled from where it had been circled around her middle; she gave a slight smile. "It's so strange; I didn't think that I was going to be showing who I was as much as I am here. Very few people in Kanto know about my abilities, and those that do have sworn they'll keep it secret. Not even all the Gym Leaders know yet."

"Really? I'd have thought that you would have told all of them, at least. Why haven't you?"

Crystal ducked her head at the question. "Well, it has a lot to do with Team Rocket and what they did to my home. If they hear that Mythos -- Mewtwo -- wasn't the only project that they made in order to be a weapon of some kind, I might get attention that I don't want. Blaine's already doing all that he can in order to protect me, and Professor Oak is, too." She paused. "I guess that's another reason why I haven't done a Gym challenge before -- I'm not known at all in the region except for a few people and Pokemon...and no one in Jhoto knows me as a possible Champion -- they just all think I'm Gold's sidekick..... I've always been worried about getting the wrong kind of attention, so I kept to myself a lot of the time."

Norman's wife looked at Crystal with an expression that seemed to be mixed between amazement and awe before her gaze softened. "You probably don't need to worry so much about that kind of thing. The Gym Leaders are all powerful, and they can keep people and Pokemon alike safe. Besides, I'm sure that you're powerful enough to defend yourself, too." She smiled.

Crystal gave a small smile in return, but that faded a moment later. "I can't exactly help it all the time. It's in a Mew's nature to hide themselves, even when they know they can fight whatever or whoever is looking for them. They -- we -- are secretive and mysterious by nature. That's why no one's ever really been able to prove that Mew really exist."

"Until recently," Norman's wife pointed out. "You obviously had to have come from somewhere."

Crystal's small smile returned, and she gave a slight nod. "Yeah. Nine years ago, Team Rocket made me." Her expression hardened as her ears flicked back. "And now Team Magnus has done the same thing that Team Rocket did, creating more human and Pokemon combinations. But _why?_ Blaine only created me because he wanted to see what would happen if the human-to-Pokemon DNA ratio was changed. So...what was their reason here?"

Crystal's team and the Gym Leader's wife looked at the Mew girl with expressions of concern and curiosity.

"The only way I'm going to be able to know that answer...is if I manage to find the leader of Magnus." Crystal raised a dishsoap-covered fist and clenched it. "Either him, or his head scientist. Maybe then I'll be able to let them know what's wrong with what they're doing to the region -- and what they're forcing those Trainers to do." She lowered the fist back into the sink and sighed. "Still...."

"You'll be able to do it," Richie spoke up suddenly, getting Crystal's attention. She looked back at the Gallade as he added, "You've been able to take them out so far with our help. We'll keep helping you, too."

"I still have to pay back that freak for having messed with my home," Samuel added, raising a paw. He grinned devilishly. "She's so going to get it the next time I see her!"

Crystal smiled at her team's encouragement. "Thank you -- all of you."

The dishes were finished off rather quickly after that, and Norman's wife showed Crystal and her team to the guest room -- after Crystal had explained that Samuel would not be leaving Effect Spores all over the house, meaning that it was safe for him to be in the building for the night.

As soon as Crystal had disappeared into the guest room with her team, Norman's wife went and found him standing on the porch in front of the house, a tired air about him.

"You're worried about them."

Norman looked over at his wife for a moment, then back at the rest of the houses in Petalburg. "I'm concerned that when we see them again, they won't be the children that we raised them to be. Ruby...Sapphire...Crystal's news of them--"

"We will make sure that they are all right when Crystal returns them to us." Norman's wife slipped her hand into his. "Don't worry. Everything will be all right soon."

Norman sighed, closing his eyes. "I hope you're right."


	54. Chapter 54

Crystal looked up at the Gym, her team standing behind her in the morning sunlight and the Pokemon Egg tucked safely away in her backpack.

Crystal closed her eyes, taking in a breath of the fresh morning air. "Our fifth Gym Badge...."

"I hope you're not planning on backing out," Samuel spoke up, giving his Trainer a deadpan look.

Crystal looked back at him with in surprise before frowning. "We need to do this if we're going to be able to keep going through the League like we have been. Norman gave us the challenge back when I started this journey. I'm not about to turn it down."

"Then, why are you standing out here?" Richie sounded concerned. "The Gym's open. we can go ahead and go right in there."

"I know." Crystal paused. "It's just...I don't know what Norman's going to do, after what I'd told him last night. He wasn't very happy with the news about what Ruby and Sapphire were doing in Team Magnus." She let out a sigh and looked up at the building in front of them. "Well, avoiding him isn't going to do us much good...we may as well get this over with."

That said, Crystal walked over to the Gym's front entrance and stepped inside, followed closely by her team. They stopped as they got just inside the entrance in order to take in the Gym's setup.

Crystal blinked in surprise when she saw who was standing in the center of the small room they had entered into. "Norman? Is this all you have in your Gym?"

The man shook his head. "My Gym is set up differently from what you are used to. Instead of one large room with obstacles, it's a selection of small rooms with different Trainers to test your knowledge of various statuses. "The Gym Trainers aren't here today, so it's just you, me, and our Pokemon. You don't have to keep those ears of yours in hiding."

Crystal's ears pulled back a little as her illusion dropped, her tail twitching back and forth. "If the Gym Trainers aren't here, then what kind of challenge are you going to put me through so that I can challenge you to a match?"

Norman shook his head again. "Those challenges were only placed there to see if they were worthy of taking on the leader of the Gym. I can already tell that you're worthy of taking on my team, so taking on the challenge wouldn't do too much for you."

Crystal was surprised at this. "R...really? But...after last night, I'd thought--"

"I don't want what happened last night to affect what we're doing today." Norman's gaze became harsh. "I know that my children are doing things that are against what we taught them when we adopted them. I know that they probably aren't going to return to me as they had left me. But they will return, if Magnus is defeated. And I want to see, as a Gym Leader and a father, that you have the strength you are going to need in the future."

Crystal blinked a couple times at that. Then she gave a determined smile and nodded in agreement. "All right. I'm ready for any challenge you're going to throw at me."

"I should think so." Norman reached for one of the PokeBalls that was on his belt. "For our battle, you need to fight one of my higher-level Pokemon yourself."

Crystal's eyes widened in surprise at that. "What?"

"You might have to face Pokemon in battle yourself, and I want to see that you're capable of taking on Pokemon without assistance from your team." Norman had a hard look in his eyes. "Since my Pokemon are Normal-Types, I won't be able to offer you a chance to have you fight against a Pokemon you have a disadvantage against, but it should prove to be enough of a challenge."

Crystal's ears flicked back a bit at that, but she didn't say anything in response to that.

If Norman noticed, he gave no sign. "But first, I want to be able to settle this as a proper Gym Leader." He held up a PokeBall. "We'll have the Gym Challenge first."

Norman tossed the PokeBall, and it exploded open, releasing a furry, four-legged Pokemon that collapsed on the Gym's wooden floor with a sigh of contentment. Then it noticed Crystal, and the Pokemon stood up lazily, long arms dangling loosely.

"A Trainer? Or a Pokemon?" The Pokemon cocked his head to one side, looking at Crystal through half-lidded eyes.

Crystal frowned at the Pokemon, then whipped out her PokeDex and pointed it at the creature.

_"Slakoth, the Slacker Pokemon. It needs to eat only three leaves a day because it spends its time hardly moving and sleeping. Just looking at it can make people drowsy, which is a special ability that it has. While it isn't known to move far from its nest, they are sometimes known to travel accidentally by swimming in rivers. This Pokemon is a pure Normal-Type."_

Crystal lowered the PokeDex and frowned at it for a moment before looking back at her team. "Samuel, you're up. And be careful, okay? I don't want you falling asleep in the middle of battle."

Samuel gave nod in response, then jumped in front of Crystal and shifted into an attack stance.

It was that this point that Crystal realized there was something missing. Looking around, she asked, "Are we going to use a referee...?"

"Do you really think we're going to need one, considering how far you've progressed?" Norman raised an eyebrow. "We can judge for ourselves without needing a referee -- I highly doubt that Pokemon have them when they fight in the wild."

Crystal's ears flicked up at the statement, and she frowned a bit. "Well, depending on where you are in the world...but I guess I see your point." She looked over at Samuel. "Let's start this off with a Mach Punch!"

Samuel gained a wide grin as he shot forward, one paw shooting out to slam into the Slakoth's side as he dashed around the Normal-Type to come back to where he had been standing a moment ago.

The Normal-Type stumbled for a moment, then somehow managed to right himself with a loud yawn. "Oh, ow. And right when I was getting ready for my nap, too. No fair."

"Hey!" Samuel barked. "We're in the middle of a battle right now, you! Pay atten--" The Breloom suddenly cut himself off by letting out a loud yawn himself, which caused him to blink in surprise.

Crystal's ears twitched as she tried to hold back a yawn herself, and her eyes widened somewhat out of alarm as she slowly came to the realization of what it was that had just happened. _That was...he's planning on putting Samuel to sleep! I'd better do something before I'm down a teammate!_

Crystal shook her head quickly, then ordered, "Samuel, pull back and switch with Richie!"

"What?" Samuel looked back at Crystal with something of a tired expression. "Why? I've got this fight in the bag." He yawned again.

"Not with that Yawn you don't." Crystal grabbed Samuel's PokeBall and returned him as Richie dashed forward and took the Breloom's place. "Richie, let's start this off with that new move you picked up!"

"Right!" Richie pulled an arm back behind him, the blade extending out and starting to glow a bright purple. A moment later, the Gallade threw his arm forward in a slicing motion, sending a curved slash of Psychic energy flying at his opponent. "Psycho Cut!"

The attack hit the Slakoth square in the chest, sending the Normal-Type skidding back across the floor a short distance. The Pokemon shook his head, gave Richie a lazy look, then collapsed onto the Gym floor and fell asleep. It wasn't too long before the Pokemon started snoring loudly.

Crystal blinked a couple times, then frowned. "Rest...?"

Norman returned the Slakoth. "You defeated him; all of Slakoth's evolutions fall asleep when they're knocked out." He gained a dry smile. "I've had to section off a part of the forest around us so that everyone can have some peace and quiet while my team sleeps off any damage they've taken."

"Oh." Crystal's ears perked up in interest. "I don't think I've seen a defeated Pokemon do _that_ before. I'm really only familiar with Pokemon from Kanto and Jhoto."

Norman clipped Slakoth's PokeBall to his belt and grabbed a second one. "You might want to keep your attention on the battle rather than on the differences between my Pokemon and the ones you have known."

Norman tossed the PokeBall, releasing his second chosen Pokemon with an explosion of sound as a large Pokemon landed on its side on the floor.

Crystal, Richie, Ando, and Trisha stumbled for a moment as the floor trembled; the Mew girl looked at the Pokemon Norman had called out, and her eyes widened in surprise.

"That's a huge Pokemon!" she yelped, scrambling to get her PokeDex again.

_"Slaking, the Lazy Pokemon. It is considered the world's laziest Pokemon, only ever seen lying on its side and eating whatever food happens to be within reach. When it's eaten everything, it reluctantly moves to another spot, leaving rings of over a diameter across in the grass. It will also wait under fruit trees for ripe fruit to fall. While it lounges in the middle of battle, it is gathering energy so that it can strike back. This Pokemon is a pure Normal-Type."_

Crystal put away the PokeDex, nodding absently. "Okay then." She took in a breath, closing her eyes for a moment before a determined expression crossed her face. "Richie, Psycho Cut!"

"Focus Punch!" Norman barked.

Slaking drew back a fist while Richie drew back his arm for only a moment before dashing forward, his blade-like arm covered in Psychic energy as it slashed into the larger Normal-Type. The Lazy Pokemon winced in response to the attack slashing into him, then dropped his fist on Richie's head.

"Ow!" Richie scrambled back, rubbing his head and glaring at Slaking while the other Pokemon yawned loudly. "That hurt!"

Samuel's PokeBall exploded open, releasing an alert Breloom who instantly started jumping from one foot to the other next to Crystal. "Hey! Switch me in there! I can take him!"

"Are you sure?" Crystal responded, looking over at the Breloom somewhat nervously. "I don't want you to end up almost falling asleep again."

"I'll be able to stay awake," Samuel replied quickly. "Trust me."

Crystal frowned, then nodded. "All right. Richie, pull back! Samuel, go in there with a Mach Punch!"

Samuel grinned as he got into a crouch before shooting forward, bringing back a hoof and slamming it into Slaking's face as Richie moved back to stand next to Crystal, Ando, and Trisha.

The Normal-Type winced as Samuel pulled back, a wide grin on his face as he bounced from one foot to the other.

"That's not nice of you, hitting a Pokemon in the face," Slaking growled. He started to bring back another fist, clearly intent on taking Samuel down, but the Breloom would have none of it. He zipped out of the way and jabbed at Slaking again -- this time hitting him in the chest with _both_ hooves.

The resulting _zap_ of electricity caught Norman and Crystal by surprise.

Samuel jumped back a bit, grinning triumphantly. "Force Palm."

Crystal's eyes widened, and she grinned widely. "All right! Nice one, Samuel!"

Norman grinned, as well, but it didn't look like a very _nice_ grin. "Slaking, Facade."

The Slaking grinned, as well, and he rose his arms despite the paralysis that was zapping along his muscles. With a loud roar, he ran forward and slammed into Samuel, sending the Breloom flying back.

Crystal was forced to scramble out of the way as Samuel went flying past and hit the back wall of the Gym. "Samuel!"

"What _was_ that?" Richie asked in surprise. "I haven't seen a move _that_ strong before!"

Crystal ran back over to Samuel as he collapsed down from the wall. "Are you all right?"

Samuel groaned in response, and lifted up his head limply and gave Crystal a shaky smile. "I'm okay."

"Not after that hit, you're not." Crystal shook her head. "You're going to sit out for the rest of the fight -- I don't want you to get hit like that again."

Samuel frowned, and he tried to rise to his feet, but then he collapsed into a sitting position under the dent in the wall he had made. "Okay, fine. I'll stay here and watch."

Crystal nodded, then turned and walked back towards her three other team members. "Okay, Richie. Do you think you can finish off the Slaking?"

The Gallade looked over at the large Normal-Type, frowning. After a moment, he nodded and moved to stand in front of his Trainer.

Norman eyed the Gallade while Slaking sat down, looking rather smug. However, a soft green glow soon covered the Slaking, and the large Pokemon flinched as what looked like green light streamed from him to Richie.

Crystal blinked in surprise. "What--"

Slaking fell over and started snoring. Loudly. As he lay there, Crystal noticed that it looked like there was a small spiral of green vines wrapped around the area that Samuel had slammed his Force Palm into.

"Leech Seed!" Crystal exclaimed. She looked back at Samuel. "Nice job! Not even I was expecting that!"

"That was the point," Samuel replied weakly, giving a tired but confident smile.

Norman returned Slaking, frowning. "Your Breloom's not bad. I don't think that I've seen very many pull a trick off like that -- normally, the Leech Seed would get destroyed by the other attack. He must have done just enough damage to cause paralysis and plant the seed without crushing it." Norman attached Slaking's PokeBall back to his belt and he grabbed his third, final PokeBall.

Richie brought up his blades. "Who's next?"

Norman held up the PokeBall. "Crystal."

"Huh?" Crystal frowned.

"You will be fighting this Pokemon; not any other member of your team."

Crystal's ears stiffened, while Richie, Trisha, and Ando looked between the Gym Leader and their Trainer.

"I said that I wanted to test your skills in a fight on your own," Norman continued. "Vigoroth should prove to be more than a challenge for you."

He tossed the PokeBall, releasing a white, furry blur with a red tuft of fur on its head. Crystal quickly whipped out her PokeDex and moved in order to follow the white blur as it bounced around Norman.

_"Vigoroth, the Wild Monkey Pokemon, and the evolved form of Slakoth and pre-evolved form of Slaking. It is always itching and agitated to go on a wild rampage, because its heart beats at ten times the average rate of other Pokemon and its blood is boiling with energy. As a result, it is unable to sleep for long, and it cannot remain still for even a second, or else it will quickly feel stressed and become sick. This Pokemon is pure-Normal-Type."_

"How can something so _fast_ be a part of a line that's so _slow_?" Crystal asked in surprise.

Norman shrugged one shoulder. "Birch told me he thinks that they reserve energy as Slakoth and run out of it so that they can evolve. Are you ready?"

Crystal slipped her backpack off her shoulders and placed it next to Ando and Trisha. She moved forward to stand next to Richie.

"Crystal, are you sure about this?" Richie asked worriedly.

Crystal gave him a nod. "Yeah. You'd better head back to Samuel and give him a heal Pulse. I don't want him to accidentally get hit with something while I'm going after the Vigoroth."

Richie hesitated for a moment, then turned and ran back to Samuel. As he reached the Breloom, Crystal turned to look back at Norman and the white blur that was still moving around him.

"All right." Crystal shifted her feet for a moment, then did a little hop and rose up into the air. "I'm ready."

"Vigoroth, Focus Blast!"

The white blur moved instantly towards Crystal, a sphere of familiar orange energy forming between what looked like a pair of claws. Crystal started to move to use Protect to keep the attack away, but Vigoroth was on her in an instant, slamming the attack directly into her middle.

"Crystal!" Richie and Samuel exclaimed at once.

Ando let out a shrieking noise.

Crystal went flying backwards instantly, gripping around her stomach as she gritted her teeth. _"OW! R-recover!"_

She tried to float higher as she gathered the energy she needed in order to heal the area where Vigoroth had hit her, but that ability faltered, and she landed on the ground, wincing.

The Normal-Type was nearly on her again, but this time Crystal knew he was coming.

_"Barrier!"_

Crystal glared at the Vigoroth as Focus Blast hit her defense and bounced back, nearly hitting the Pokemon but missing at the last second.

Crystal took in a deep breath, closing her eyes and using another Recover as the pain in her stomach faded to a dull throb. She knew that the Barrier would help keep her safe for a few more moments, but she didn't know if the Vigoroth knew Brick Break, like Brawly's Machamp.

_I need an attack that will take that Pokemon out in one hit, and won't miss him even when he's moving at high speeds like that._

Crystal paused, and a small smile crossed her face. _Oh, yeah. Right._

"Vigoroth, Brick Break!"

Crystal's eyes snapped open at Norman's exclamation, and she saw the Normal-Type practically flying at her. She quickly dropped into a half-crouch and held her hands a short distance apart from each other. Blue energy started to gather between her hands.

As Vigoroth slammed into Crystal's Barrier, she slammed an Aura Sphere right into _his_ middle.

"Take this!" Crystal pushed, pouring in an extra burst of energy as she hit the Normal-Type.

The resulting explosion sent Vigoroth and Crystal both skidding back, Crystal leaning forward in order to keep herself from falling over backwards. Vigoroth, on the other hand, was sent tumbling head over heels before he landed on his stomach, arms and legs splayed.

Vigoroth tried to get up, a snarl forming on the Pokemon's face as he started to pull his arms and legs under his body in order to rise up. "Hey! That hurt, you stupid kid!"

"Well, that Focus Blast wasn't fun, either!" Crystal barked back. She started to form another Aura Sphere between her hands. "My body is mostly human! I can't take attacks like you can!" She threw the Aura Sphere at the Pokemon, managing to get him before he could rise fully to his feet. The second attack caused Vigoroth to fall limply to the Gym floor. "So there!"

Norman quickly returned the Pokemon to the PokeBall; at the same time, Crystal collapsed kneeling to the floor.

"Crystal!" Richie ran over, followed closely by Samuel, who was looking a little better than he had been. "Are you okay?"

"Well, I'll live...." Crystal fell back onto the floor, sighing. "But I don't like how I'm feeling right now. That Focus Blast might have done more damage than I thought."

Norman appeared in the Trainer's line of vision. "You were able to handle that pretty well, considering Vigoroth was able to get the first move in."

"Well, it's not going to be considered a 'win' if I get major damage from internal bleeding," Crystal replied. "Could you get Nurse Joy? Please?"

Norman nodded, then turned and ran out of the Gym without another word.

**Time Break**

It took a few hours before Crystal was let out of the Pokemon Center with bandages wrapped around her middle to keep her innards from be jostled around too much. Nurse Joy and her Chansey had been reluctant to let her go; it had only been because Crystal had promised not to do anything too stressful that the were allowing her to walk around Petalburg for a while, with the promise that she would come back in the evening.

"Oh! Norman!" Crystal blinked in surprise as she stepped out of the Pokemon Center and nearly ran into the Gym Leader. "Have you been waiting out here?"

Norman nodded in response, looking grim. "I wanted to apologize. I didn't realize that you didn't have as much built-in defensive power as the Pokemon do. Your attacks do seem to make up for that, at least."

"My Barrier has always been my go-to instead of Protect," Crystal replied as her Pokemon slipped out of the Pokemon Center behind her. "It's just been stronger for me. It helps that I know Pokemon who are willing to help me learn new moves if I want to."

"Well, it's good that you have a balance in that way, at least." Norman dug into a pocket of his pants and pulled out a small medal that looked like a bar with circles on the ends. "The Balance Badge. It's yours."

Crystal's eyes widened, and she looked between the Badge and Norman's face before giving him a bright smile. She practically jumped forward and hugged him tightly. "Thank you!"

Norman stiffened in the hug for a moment, then relaxed and wrapped his arms around Crystal gently, placing his hands on her back. "You don't have to thank me. You're the one who earned it."

"But you're the one who decided that I had." Crystal looked up at Norman, smiling. "So thank you."

Norman stared at Crystal for a moment, then smiled and chuckled. "You remind me so much of Sapphire when she was younger." He ruffled Crystal's hair between her ears, causing them to flick about wildly. "You'd better get them back safe and sound."

"I will." Crystal nodded as she and Norman released each other from the hug.

Norman handed over the Badge, which Crystal promptly took. "I've got a couple other things for you, too."

Crystal's ears twitched. "Really? Is one of them a TM?"

Norman nodded, and he pulled out not one, but _two_ disks. "One of these is for Facade. It's a move that doubles in power if the user is affected by a status condition."

"So that's why it was so powerful...." Richie cocked his head to one side as he adjusted the position of Crystal's backpack on his back.

"And the other one?" Crystal pointed at the blue disk that Norman was holding in in the same hand that Facade was in.

"This is a Hidden Machine."

Crystal's eyes widened at the Gym Leader's words. "A _Hidden_ Machine? No way! How did you manage to get your hands on one of those?"

"What is it?" Samuel looked at the blue disk, frowning. "It looks just like the other ones. Why does it have a different name?"

"Hidden Machines are like TMs, but they can be used multiple times over instead of just once," Crystal explained to her Pokemon. "Trainers use Hidden Machines to get past some obstacles -- like Rock Smash, the one Zuzu and Brendan used when we were going up to Fallarbor and Lavaridge. They're supposed to be extremely hard to find, though, because they're so expensive to make. TMs are cheaper because they're designed to be only used once, but they're still expensive to buy."

"The nice thing about Hidden Machines is that you can buy one for an entire family," Norman spoke up with a knowing smile. "This is one my father bought me when I was going on my own journey." His smile faded. "Since Sapphire and Ruby had both disappeared and are working for Magnus, I can't pass this on to either one of them. So I want you to hold onto it for a little while and make use of it, and if you run into May or Brendan, make sure that they can use it, as well. You're going to need it if you're going to be making your way to the next Gym."

"Really?" Crystal turned and motioned to Richie. "Hang on -- I don't have a map of Hoenn memorized, but I know there is one on my PokeNav...."

Richie slid the backpack off his shoulder and placed it gently on the ground, allowing Crystal to dig into its pockets and put away the TM, HM, and Badge that Norman handed over to her. Then she pulled out the PokeNav.

"Okay, I think that Mr. Stone said it was...2?" Crystal pressed down on the button on the number pad and waited a few seconds before the map appeared. "Okay. Where's the next Gym?"

"It's here, in Fortree." Norman touched a red dot that was to the far north and east of Petalburg. "The only way you're going to be able to get there is if you cross the channel to the west of Mauvile." He motioned to the stretch of blue. "You, May, and Brendan are all going to need to cross there if you're going to be able to reach the next Gym."

"Oh!" Crystal's eyes widened instantly. "Okay; I see. I should be able to cross just fine by flying, but I see your point about that." She frowned. "And there is a lot of water all over the region, isn't there...."

Norman nodded. "Surf is a pretty important HM around here. I know you can fly, if what I saw in my Gym was any indication, but you're not a Flying-Type; I doubt that you're going to be able to keep that up for very long, especially considering that there are Trainers who swim along these routes daily." He motioned to the water surrounding the islands to the far west. "And there are Gyms out in that direction, as well."

"Okay. So I'm definitely going to need a Water-Type before I can go out in that direction." Crystal nodded, and started to put the PokeNav away, but then a flash of yellow caught her eye. "Hmm?"

"It would be wise if we exchanged numbers." Norman held out his own PokeNav. "Especially since you are going after my son and daughter."

Crystal ducked her head, feeling a little embarrassed that she had forgotten. "Yeah, that would be a good idea."

After they had exchanged numbers, Norman asked, "Are you planning on moving out as soon as possible?"

Crystal shook her head as Richie picked up her backpack again. "No; not with what happened in the Gym today. I'd rather have one Nurse Joy keep an eye on me rather than having to check in at every town I go to. I'll just wait until she says I don't need to worry so much, and then I'll head out." She smiled and added, "Besides, Brendan's going to be coming around here, anyway. I may as well wait for him so that he can use Surf on Zuzu."

Norman nodded. "All right, then. It wouldn't be too much if I asked you to join us for dinner again?"

"I don't think so." Crystal smiled brightly. "So long as I'm back in the Pokemon Center later, it shouldn't be a problem."


	55. Catching Up

The next morning, Nurse Joy found Crystal sitting with her team in the Pokemon Center's cafeteria with her ears and tail hidden, laughing at something that Samuel had said.

"No, I _can't_ teach you Surf!" Crystal said. "You're not even partially a Water-Type! Teaching you that move would be absolutely ridiculous! We're going to need a Water-Type to join our team later, that's all."

"They're a bunch of stuck-up 'mons!" Samuel insisted. "They've got more water to move in than we've got land! You don't want one of those snubbers on the team!"

"Zuzu's nice, though," Richie pointed out. "And he's a Ground _and_ Water-Type. So there are some nice Water-Types out there."

"That's besides the point!"

Crystal was doing her best to hold back her giggles as Nurse Joy came over and stood next to them.

"Good morning," Nurse Joy said, getting the group's attention.

"Good morning," Crystal replied, smiling. "How are you, Nurse Joy?"

"I feel just as great as always," the woman replied, returning Crystal's smile. "And you?"

Crystal lightly touched her middle, feeling the bandages that were hiding under her pink shirt. "Well, it's not as bad as yesterday, but it still hurts a little. I was planning on staying for another day or two -- or until I'm fully healed; one of the two. So we're not going to be doing very much today."

Nurse Joy nodded. "Rest is very important with these kinds of things. Unfortunately, I can't judge how long it will take you to heal properly because you're, well...very much different from the other patients I've had. I appreciate the fact that you are staying here until we both know you're fit for traveling again."

"Well I don't want to worry anyone." Crystal looked up at Nurse Joy. "And I know my limits, so I don't want to push myself right now. So we're probably just going to be staying in town and relaxing today, since the Pokemon that live around here would probably not be strong enough to give my team a real challenge."

Samuel slumped in his chair and muttered something under his breath as he scowled. Richie simply shook his head at him.

Nurse Joy chuckled at the expressions the two Pokemon had on their faces. "Well, I have heard that there are Trainers who are traveling around more now, considering that Team Magnus seems to have been falling back from their various locations."

Crystal's invisible ears twitched at that, and she looked up at Nurse Joy in surprise. "They are? Really?"

Nurse Joy nodded. "Yes. Talk has been going around about various Trainers seeming to appear up out of nowhere in order to fight off various groups. We even had a message some time ago from a Ranger be broadcast across the region in various Pokemon Centers, telling Trainers to rise up against Team Magnus. We even heard something about the fierce sandstorm on Route 111 being calmed down some thanks to the collapse of a mysterious tower that a Magnus group seemed to have found."

Crystal rubbed the back of her head. "Ah. Uh, Brendan and I might have had something to do with that one, actually...."

"Truly? You were up there a few days ago? I didn't think that you would be able to get here from Lavaridge in such a short time!"

"Well, they finished the Verdanturf tunnel, so we didn't have to travel as far," Crystal explained. "The ruin maniacs who were living nearby weren't happy with us for knocking down the Mirage Tower, but it was really more the sandstorm's fault than anything else -- I mean, it had become so strong that I don't think the tower would have lasted any longer anyway."

Nurse Joy considered that for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, I suppose that would make some sense. The sandstorm was being said to have been stronger than usual...."

"So there are other Trainers who are fighting against them?" Crystal reached for her backpack and pulled out her PokeNav before activating the map. She blinked in surprise when she saw small scatterings of black spots across the region -- the trouble areas -- instead of larger blotches like she had seen back in Rustboro, when she had first received the PokeNav. "Wow."

Nurse Joy nodded. "We have had our own protector here for quite some time now -- a young man named Eros. He goes into the Petalburg Woods almost daily, and he travels back and forth between here and Rustboro in order to make sure that we aren't having any problems. I think it's entirely because of him that we haven't had any incidents recently."

Crystal's invisible ears perked. "Eros? I ran into him before -- in the Petalburg Woods, when I had just started my League challenge. Do you think he's around right now?"

"I'm afraid not. He left for Rustboro about an hour ago. He should be back in a day or two."

Crystal slumped in her chair. "I see...." She sighed. "Looks like I'll have to catch him on a different day. I was really hoping if I could see how he was doing."

"And maybe tell him about his brother?" Richie added.

Crystal nodded as she looked over the PokeNav's map again. "Hey...it looks like they're still having trouble in Meteor Falls...I would have thought that Zach and I had taken care of that...."

"Hello, Crystal! Hello, Nurse Joy!"

Crystal turned her head away from the map, and her eyes widened in surprise when she saw who was coming towards them.

"Hello, Wally!" Nurse Joy greeted in surprise. "What are you doing here? I thought you had gone to Verdanturf!"

"I got well enough that I could travel back on my own!" Wally replied, smiling proudly. "I have my Pokemon with me, too, so I didn't have to worry about being attacked by wild ones on my way here."

"Do you have more than just Gwen now?" Crystal cocked her head to one side curiously. "Or is it still just you and her?"

Wally rubbed the back of his head and gave a shaky smile. "Well, I have been able to pick up two other Pokemon. They're both girls, though, so I'm starting to feel a little left out."

"Well, most of my team is a bunch of guys." Crystal paused. "And then I have an Egg that's sitting back up in my room right now with Trisha, another Pokemon I picked up recently. She's a Trapinch."

"A Trapinch? I've heard that those Pokemon live in the desert." Wally cocked his head to one side. "Can I see her?"

"Well, I don't see why not, but she is pretty nervous around other people. She's still warming up to me, too." Crystal rose up from the table, Richie and Samuel following suit as the Gallade picked up Crystal's backpack. "If we keep running into each other like this, it might be a good idea to get the two of you introduced."

"Really?" Wally's eyes widened. "You'd do that?"

"Well, I don't see why not. Come on; my room's up this way." Crystal turned to look at Nurse Joy. "It might be a good idea if you checked on the Egg, too. I don't know how close it is to hatching."

"I'll meet you up there with Chansey," Nurse Joy replied, nodding.

Crystal looked over at Wally and motioned for him to follow her; she started towards where the rooms in the Center were, her team and Wally following close behind.

"So, have you battled Norman yet?" Wally asked.

"Yup!" Crystal looked back at the green-haired boy and smiled. "I actually just beat him yesterday. We're going to be taking a break for a couple of days before we head to the next Gym. I've got something that I want to be able to share with May, Brendan, and maybe Gold if they come around to challenge Norman while I'm here."

"Really? What is it?"

"The HM Surf. We're going to need it if we're going to be able to travel around most of the region." Crystal frowned slightly. "Do you have a Water-Type, Wally? Maybe you can use it."

Wally shook his head. "None of my Pokemon are Water-Types. I think either my dad or my uncle has an HM, though. Thanks for the offer."

"Oh! Okay, then."

It didn't take very long after that for the group to reach Crystal's room. She placed her hand on the doorknob, paused, then pushed it open. "Come on; Trisha's probably going to be hiding under the bed, but you can probably still see her."

"Why would she be hiding under the bed?" Wally frowned, cocking her head to one side.

"She's used to hiding under the sand, so I guess a bed is the next best thing." Crystal waited until everyone was inside the room, and then she stepped inside, closing the door behind her. "Be careful, okay? I've got the Egg sitting on the--"

"Hi!"

Crystal blinked in surprise as Wally kneeled down in front of the bed, looking down at the large orange head that was peering out from underneath.

"I'm Wally," Wally added. "You're Trisha, right? It's nice to meet you!"

Trisha looked up at him, blinking a couple times, then disappeared under the bed again.

Crystal giggled. "I didn't think that Trisha would do that. I guess she sensed that you were a good person." She looked over at the Egg that was sitting on the bed in a nest of blankets. "There's the Egg. It hasn't really done anything since I picked it up in Lavaridge, but I think it's been moving every once in a while."

Wally looked up, and his eyes widened when he saw the black and gray-striped Egg that was sitting on the bed. "Whoa...I don't think I've seen an Egg this close before. I know that the Day Care finds them sometimes, but they don't show them off unless someone wants to adopt a Pokemon. How did you manage to get this one?"

"Someone found it at the base of Jagged Pass." Crystal shook her head. "It was just left there. A woman found it and asked me if I would be willing to take over caring for it, since she couldn't and whoever had left the Egg obviously couldn't."

Wally's forehead furrowed. "That's not very nice...."

"I know. I didn't want to leave the Egg alone like that, so I said I would take it with me." Crystal looked over at the Egg with a sad frown. "I never even got to thank the woman for letting me know about the Egg. I hope that I can run into her sometime so that I can thank her."

Wally nodded in agreement as he rose up from his kneeling position. "Yeah, that would be a pretty good idea."

"So, what about you? You said that you have new team members?" Crystal cocked her head to one side, looking at Wally curiously. "Who are they?"

"Oh! Yeah, that's right!" Wally reached into the bag that was hanging from his shoulder and pulled out a PokeBall, a Great Ball, and a blue Ball with yellow stripes in a zig-pattern. "Okay, guys! I'd like you to meet some new friends!"

The three Balls exploded open, revealing three Pokemon.

Crystal's eyebrows rose. "Oh, wow! Gwen's evolved since I last saw her!"

The former Kirlia hid a smile behind one of her hands. _"Yeah. I'm still getting used to some things, too. Like telepathy."_

Richie stuttered something, getting Gwen's attention. The Gardevoir and the Gallade locked eyes for a moment, then looked away from each other.

Crystal caught sight of a blush developing on Richie's cheeks, and she held back a giggle.

"Ooo! Gwen's found a new friend~!"

Crystal looked down, blinking in surprise when she saw a Skitty looking between Gwen and Richie with a bright smile and a wagging tail.

"I think they might be more than that," commented the Roselia who was standing next to the pink Normal-Type. She hid a smile behind the red and blue roses that were at the ends of her arms.

Crystal looked over at Wally, who was hiding a smile behind his hands, and she gave him a grin. "Looks like our Pokemon are able to get along pretty well."

Wally nodded. "Yeah. I don't think that we're going to have any problems hanging out with each other."

The Roselia turned to look up at Samuel. "Well, hello. Who might you be?"

"I'm Samuel," the Breloom replied. He puffed his chest up. "And I helped us win against Norman yesterday! We've got five Badges now!"

"Five? My goodness!"

Wally looked at the two Pokemon in confusion, then turned and looked over at Gwen. "What are they saying?"

 _"The Breloom is named Samuel, and...Crystal has five Badges? Wow!"_ Gwen turned and looked at Crystal with wide, amazed eyes. _"You're over halfway done with the League now! That's incredible!"_

Crystal laughed and tubbed the back of her head. "Well, it's just because my team works together so well. Richie and Samuel were able to take care of the Pokemon that Norman threw at us, because they're both part Fighting-Types. Richie doesn't know any Fighting-Type attacks yet, though."

"I'll be able to learn something," Richie spoke up quickly.

"I know you will." Crystal placed a hand on the Pokemon's shoulder, smiling. "We're just going to have to be patient."

"So, how tough was it?" Wally asked.

Samuel started to say something, but then Richie elbowed the Breloom, getting a sour glare from the mushroom-capped Pokemon.

"It was...pretty tough," Crystal admitted in response. "Breloom's final move against his Slaking was pretty much what allowed us to win."

Richie frowned at Crystal as she spoke, and Trisha poked her head out from under the bed again.

"Really?" Wally cocked his head to one side, frowning slightly.

"Yeah. Why do you ask?" Crystal frowned. "Are you thinking about taking on the League Challenge?"

"I'm not thinking about it; I'm doing it." Wally reached into his bag and pulled out a plain silver Badge case, which he opened. "See? I beat Watson a little while ago."

Crystal's eyebrows went up when she saw Watson's Badge sitting in the Badge case. "Wow! That's awesome, Wally!" She smiled brightly at Wally. "Watson was the closest Gym to you, so I guess it makes sense that you would go after him first."

"Yeah." Wally nodded. "I've been thinking about fighting Norman next, but I wanted to know from someone who had fought him before if he was really strong or not."

"Well, I think that all the Gym Leaders are strong in their own ways," Crystal replied. "But I think it depends on how strong of a team they have to use against someone when their challenger only has a certain number of Badges. Norman might let you challenge him, but I don't know -- he told me that I had to get four Badges before I could challenge him."

Wally's face fell. "Oh, really?"

"Well, that's the challenge he gave me. I don't know if he'll give the same one to you." Crystal shrugged.

Wally paused at that, then frowned. "W-well...do you think we could battle, then?"

"Battle?" Crystal blinked.

"Well, I want to see how strong we are, so I can see if we'll be able to take on Norman as we are now. And..." Wally paused, frowning slightly. "And I'd like to have someone that I could call a rival."

"A rival?" Crystal frowned. "I don't know if I'm the best person to be your rival, Wally."

"Why not? You're a strong Trainer, and you have a Gallade." Wally nodded to Richie. "And I don't really know anyone else who is a Trainer right now that I could be a rival with."

Crystal rubbed the back of her head. "W-well, from what I know, a lot of Trainers who say they're rivals usually don't like each other very much....and I don't want to have to _hate_ you or anyone else."

"We don't have to!" Wally raised his hands in front of himself and shook them, as though he was warding off something. "I just want someone to measure my strength against! That's what Gold said a rival is at his or her best!"

"Gold told you that?" Crystal's invisible ears perked up at the mentioning of the Jhoto Trainer. "It's been a while since I've heard from him. How was he doing?"

"He was doing well," Wally replied. "He said he was going up to Lavaridge after he had heard about what happened up on Mt. Chimney. I think he said something about...chasing a lead."

"Oh." Crystal blinked. "I guess we're going to be moving in different directions for a while. I wonder what he meant about chasing a lead, though...."

Wally shrugged. "He didn't tell me. Maybe he'll meet us here and he'll be able to fill us in on what he meant?"

"I hope so."

"...so, are you going to accept my challenge?"

Crystal looked at Wally for a moment, then at his three Pokemon. When she saw the determined looks that the Pokemon were giving her, she couldn't help but smile.

"Okay; I don't think that's going to be all that much of a problem."

There came a knock on the door. "Crystal? Wally? I'm coming in."

"Oh! Nurse Joy!" Crystal slipped past the crowd of Pokemon in order to get to the door and open it. "Sorry about the crowd; we wanted to get our Pokemon introduced to each other."

"It's quite all right," Nurse Joy replied, smiling as she stepped into the room. "And the Egg you mentioned is...?"

"Right here." Crystal motioned to the bed. "My Trapinch is hiding under the bed, and I don't know if she's going to poke her head out while you're here or not."

"I won't trip her up," came the muffled voice of the Ground-Type.

"I appreciate the warning." Nurse Joy nodded, then walked towards the bed, pulling out a stethoscope as she did so. A Chansey followed after her, looking around the pink-haired woman as she looked over the Egg, touching it with careful hands and placing the stethoscope to its shell. "Well, it doesn't seem like it's been damaged or harmed so far on your journey." She moved her stethoscope back quickly out of surprise when the Egg twitched. "Oh! It seems that it may be close to hatching, as well!"

"It's been doing that ever since we got here," Crystal said, nodding to the Egg. "I don't want to carry it around in town while it's twitching like that, so I'm planning on leaving it in here with Trisha to keep an eye on it. She isn't quite used to a lot of people being around yet, anyway."

"That might be a wise thing to do while you're staying here." Nurse Joy nodded. "I doubt that it's going to hatch here, however. Trainers usually report hearing noises coming from inside before the Egg hatches, and I'm not hearing anything." She put her stethoscope in one of the pockets in her uniform's skirt. "Still, it's good to be cautious."

"Especially when it comes to Eggs," Crystal agreed.

Wally nodded as well, then frowned slightly. "Um, Crystal? Can we battle?"

"Oh!" Crystal turned to look at Wally, blushing a little bit. "Sorry about that -- your challenge slipped out of my head! Sure, we can do that -- just not in here. I don't want to damage anything."

"If the two of you are looking to have a match, there is a field behind the Center meant just for that," Nurse Joy offered."

"Thanks, Nurse Joy." Crystal gave the woman a nod, then turned to face Wally and the Pokemon who were in the room. "Since you've got three Pokemon, I'll just use three, too -- that way, Trisha can stay in here with the Egg."

"Sure." Wally nodded.

"Sounds good to me," Trisha said from under the bed.

Crystal smiled at the Trapinch's statement, then turned to look at Wally and Nurse Joy. "Okay then. Let's go."


	56. Crystal vs. Wally

The field that Nurse Joy led the two Trainers and their Pokemon to was a simple patch of tamped dirt with lines painted over that were reminiscent of a Gym's.

Samuel started hopping from one foot to the other eagerly as Crystal and Wally took up their positions on either side of the field. "All right! This is gonna be fun! Can I go first?"

"Actually, you and Richie hogged all the fighting yesterday, so I want to start things off a little differently," Crystal replied with a smirk. "Ando, you're going first."

Ando looked up at Crystal. "Me?"

Wally jolted. "Whoa! That Pokemon talks?"

Crystal shrugged. "Yeah. He's a resurrected Pokemon, so he never learned how to speak his native language -- he learned from the humans around him instead."

"Whoa...." Wally blinked for a moment. "Okay. Um...Sasha, you're going first."

"Yay!" The Skitty bounded forward. "My first battle!"

Ando clicked his claws together, then raised them up.

"Let's start this off with an Ancient Power!" Crystal said, grinning.

Wally's eyes widened as Ando started to summon the giant rocks that made up the attack. "Uh-oh! Sasha, do what you can to dodge it! Then use DoubleSlap!"

Ando dropped his claws, and the boulders hovering above him instantly started flying towards the Skitty.

Sasha yelped, then scrambled to move out of the way as the boulders came flying straight at her. "Stayawaystayawaystayaway!" Despite her best efforts, however, the Skitty was still hit in the head by one of the larger boulders. "Ow! That hurt! Big meanie!"

"Meanie?" Ando stiffened up a little. "Me? A meanie?"

"Yes, you!" Sasha turned, stopping her running away from the boulders; she ran towards Ando. "Take this!"

Sasha then proceeded to smack Ando multiple times in his face with her large tail, yelling what sounded like "Nyaaaaaa!"

Ando didn't seem the least bit fazed; his claws gained a metallic sheen, and he slashed into Sasha with a Metal Claw, sending the Pokemon stumbling back with a yelp.

"Ooooo...I don't feel so good...." Sasha collapsed with a groan.

Crystal blinked. "I didn't think taking her out would be that easy...."

"Well, I caught her pretty recently, so I guess that she wasn't quite ready for that yet." Wally pulled out the blue and yellow Ball and returned Sasha, then turned to look at his still-conscious Pokemon. "I think Ando's at least part-Rock. Rem, can you take him?"

The Roselia cocked her head to one side for a moment, then smiled. "I don't think it should be too much of a problem." She walked forward and stood in front of her Trainer. "Whenever you're ready."

"Mega Drain!" Wally declared.

"Let's see how much damage your Bug Bite can do," Crystal said quickly, her invisible ears flicking forward at Wally's exclamation.

Ando lunged forward as Rem raised her arms, a soft green glow taking over the roses as Ando reached the Reoselia and started gnawing on the Pokemon.

Rem flinched, then slammed her roses down on Ando's back, forcing him to release her and scramble back.

Ando shook himself out. "That hurt."

"Hmmm...." Rem looked down at her roses. "I didn't get much from that."

Wally frowned. "Think you can do it again? That looked like it kinda hurt."

Rem nodded, then raised her roses again.

"You know what to do," Crystal told Ando quickly.

The Pokemon didn't verbally respond to Crystal's statement; he promptly lunged forward again, claws raised.

"I think not!" Rem lowered her flowers. "Mega Drain!"

Not even the draining effects of the move completely fazed Ando; he rammed directly into Rem again and started chewing on the Pokemon's head spikes, causing Rem to let out a shout of pain and fall under Ando's weight. After a moment, Ando pulled himself off the Roselia and scuttled back to his original position in front of Crystal, now looking a little purplish.

"I don't feel so well," Ando said.

"Rem!" Wally quickly returned the Roselia to her Great Ball and looked at it with a worried expression. "You did a good job out there."

_"Magical Leaf!"_

A swath of leaves cut across the field, hitting Ando across his back and causing the Anorith to fall limp as Gwen took up a position in front of Wally.

 _"That's one down,"_ the Gardevoir said with a determined frown. _"Who's next?"_

Samuel started to step forward, but Richie put an arm up and stopped him.

"I'll take her." Richie took up a position in front of Crystal, shifting into the stance he'd taken back in the Gym.

A moment later, he threw a Psycho Cut at Gwen.

The Gardevoir almost seemed to absorb the attack that was thrown at her, then responded with the pure-sounding note of a Disarming Voice that caught Richie off-guard. By the time he'd managed to shake off his surprise, he'd been hit by a Magical Leaf.

"Oh, you want to play it like that?" Richie summoned his own Magical Leaf and threw them at Gwen, who easily took his attack again.

 _"You're not going to be standing for much longer."_ Gwen moved forward, almost seeming to float because of her long dress, and she promptly kissed Richie.

Samuel gagged. "Eew! Gross!"

Crystal saw the bright pink glow that was coming from where Gwen was kissing Richie's cheek, and her eyes widened. "That's no ordinary kiss...."

Gwen pulled back, smiling, and Richie collapsed.

"Richie!" Crystal clapped her hands over her mouth in surprise. Before she could move to return him to his PokeBall, Samuel was jumping over the Gallade in an instant, rushing for Gwen.

Samuel slammed into the other Pokemon, yelling, "Force Palm!"

Gwen let out a yelp of pain, stumbling back as Samuel quickly jumped away from her. A moment later, vines seemed to grow from out of the red fin that was embedded into Gwen's chest. _"Wh-what?"_

"Leech Seed?" Wally's eyes widened. "But...that's not supposed to hurt when the Pokemon first uses it on them!"

"He used Force Palm, too," Crystal responded. "It's a combination he came up with that helped us defeat Norman yesterday."

Gwen yelped as the vines glowed green, then Samuel glowed the same color for a moment. She tried to move in order to attack Samuel, but a number of sparks rose up from her body, stopping her short. _"Ow!"_

"Gwen!" Wally exclaimed, concerned.

Samuel grinned. "Now things are getting good!"

"Gwen, what about your ability?" Wally looked over the Gardevoir worriedly.

Gwen shook her head. _"Trace copied her first Pokemon's ability -- Battle Armor. That only protects against critical hits. I can't Synchronize with him because of it."_

"Samuel, Gwen is a Psychic and Fairy-Type," Crystal warned quickly. "She's not going to be hurt very much by your Fighting-Type attacks. I don't want you getting kissed by her, either, so try to stay as far away from her as possible!"

"If you say so." Samuel's shoulders shifted as though he was rolling them. "Mega Drain!"

Gwen and Samuel both glowed bright green at his exclamation, and she let out a yell of pain and started swaying on her feet a little.

"Don't give up!" Wally encouraged. "Come on! If we heal up, we should be able to win, right?"

Gwen flinched as the Leech Seed took even more energy, but she gained a determined expression despite the pain. _"Right."_ She started moving forward in a faster, floating-like state than she had when she had attacked Richie.

"Looks like she's going in for that kiss again," Crystal muttered.

Samuel stiffened up, then grinned. "I've got an idea as to what exactly I can do!" He lunged forward, bringing back a fist as it became covered in glowing green energy.

An instant later, the two Pokemon's moves connected: Gwen managed to give Samuel a light peck on the cheek mere moments before his glowing fist hit her below the red fin in her chest.

Samuel slid back, looking exhausted for a moment before the Leech Seed kicked in on Gwen, bringing him back some energy. "Heh. That felt pretty good."

Gwen shook off the effects of the Leech Seed and gained a worried expression. _"That didn't give me very much energy back...."_

"Try doing it again," Wally encouraged.

"I don't think so!" Samuel activated Mega Drain again, a wide grin on his face as he gained back even more energy while Gwen winced as her own was drained.

"Oh, no...." Wally pulled in on himself, gaining a worried expression.

Gwen was starting to pant heavily. She shook her head, her body swaying a little. _"I can still win this. I just have to get in a hit -- gah!"_ Electricity sparked across her body again as she tried to move forward.

Samuel's grin widened, and he once again activated his Mega Drain technique. This time, the bright glow that followed caused Gwen's stance to sway even more. She tried to keep her balance, but the Leech Seed vines and the paralysis were making that even more difficult than her exhaustion was.

"Come on, come on...." Wally's hands were clenched tightly, held close to his chest.

Samuel shifted his stance, leaning forward as though he was ready to lunge forward at a moment's notice. He started to move when Gwen started to move forward, but then he stopped short out of surprise as Gwen collapsed.

"Oh, no...." Wally's shoulders collapsed in disappointment, and he returned Gwen to her PokeBall. "And we were so close...."

"You were definitely close," Crystal said, eyes wide. "You've become a pretty good Trainer, Wally. You really pushed us to our limit! I'm surprised that Samuel was the one who ended up pulling through for us."

Richie stirred from where he lay on the ground, and he sat up, rubbing his cheek where Gwen had kissed him; Samuel puffed out his chest proudly while Richie sent the Breloom a sour glare.

"I'm surprised that I manage to get so close, too!" Wally responded. "That means we're pretty close in strength to each other!"

Gwen's PokeBall popped open, releasing the Gardevoir in a slightly better state than she had been a moment ago. _"Yes! And when we meet later on and battle each other again, then we'll have become even stronger!"_

Crystal nodded. "The same goes for us, as well. And I'm definitely looking forward to that."

Wally's eyes widened. "R-really? Does that mean you're my rival now?"

Crystal's smile became a little sheepish. "Yeah, I guess so."

The bright smile that appeared on Wally's face was shortly followed by the boy dancing happily around in a circle, holding hands with Gwen.

Crystal's smile widened, and she giggled. Then she looked over at her exhausted Pokemon, then back at Wally. "Come on; let's get our team healed up. Then, maybe you could show me around the area a bit? You grew up here, so you probably know about some cool places, right?"

Wally stopped dancing around, frowning slightly at Crystal's question. "Well, I've been sick a lot since I was really little, so I don't know if I'll be able to really show you around. We can go to my house, though -- Mom and Dad would probably like having visitors."

"Sure. Let's go there after we get our Pokemon healed up." Crystal paused for a moment. "And I think I'll bring Trisha and the Egg along -- I don't want to leave them out of everything that we're going to do."

"Okay." Wally nodded, then started towards the main entrance of the Pokemon Center. Crystal helped Richie get to his feet, then followed after him.

**Time/Space Break**

Aria had been trekking through the underbrush of Hoenn's rain forest for a good portion of the day, and Rick was starting to look more and more soaked because of the water that was dropping down on their heads.

The Raichu shook himself, scattering water droplets in all directions and getting even more on the Ranger. "I really hope we can get out of this soon. This stuff is really messing with the electricity I've got charged up."

"We have to deal with it," Aria replied, frowning. "We have to find that base that we've been hearing rumors about. If we can do that, we might be able to put a large dent in whatever Magnus has planned." She pulled back a large branch, then blinked when she saw what was ahead of them. "Come on. We should be able to camp here for the night before we keep going." She pushed past the branches and bushes and stepped into a small, open clearing, Rick following after her.

Rick shook himself out again while Aria took a few steps away from her so that she wouldn't get splattered again. "Okay, there we go." He looked up. "Wow, it's gotten dark."

Aria looked up when she saw Rick look up at the sky, and her eyes widened when she saw how dark it had become. "I had thought that the darkness was because of how thick the branches were above our heads. We must have gotten deeper in than most Trainers would even think of going..." She gave a small laugh. "Wow. The stars look incredible out here."

"This is probably one of the few places that they can be seen anywhere in the region."

Aria and Rick turned when they heard the voice, which felt both familiar and...oddly unfamiliar at the same time.

Aria frowned slightly when she saw the figure standing at the edge of the trees on the other side of the clearing, looking up at the sky. "Who are you?"

The figure looked down from the sky, and Aria's eyes widened when she saw the familiar shape of a pair of triangular ears on top of the figure's head.

"You! What are you doing out here?" Aria's eyes widened in surprise. "I thought you were going north to Mauville and then to Lavaridge to challenge the Gym!"

The figure cocked her head to one side. "Me? Take the challenge?" She shook her head. "That's definitely not going to happen anytime soon. Not while I have this." She moved to point at something on her neck.

Rick hissed, his tail lashing when he and Aria caught sight of the glint of gold that reflected the starlight at them.

"Where...when did you get that?" Aria frowned, feeling wary. Something here felt wrong, and horribly so.

"As soon as I got here." The hand was lowered. "I would have thought that you would have known that, Maria."

Aria blinked at that. "Maria? Crystal, you know my name is Aria. I never said there was an 'M' at the beginning of my name."

The figure stiffened. "Crystal? You think I'm...oh." She stepped forward, so that the starlight illuminated her entire figure, tail curling around her middle somewhat protectively.

Aria stiffened, and sparks flew from Rick's cheeks. "What the -- they made another one?!"

The other figure shook her head in response to the statement. "I wasn't made. Not like Crystal, at least."

"Who are you?" Rick demanded. "If you're not Crystal, then who are you?"

The girl looked at the Raichu for a moment, then over at Aria. "My name is Khrista." A moment later, she flinched, and there was a bright flash of gold before an even brighter flash followed; Aria and Rick both had to shield their eyes.

When the light faded, Aria lowered her arm and looked around the clearing, her eyebrows furrowing when she saw no sign of the other figure.

"This isn't good," Aria muttered. She looked down at Rick. "There's a lot more going on here than we had been at first led to believe."

Rick's ears drooped. "This means we aren't going to be able to stop moving tonight, are we?"

Aria shook her head. "We have to keep moving and solve this, before Magnus makes their next move. Come on!"


	57. An Eon

Crystal closed her eyes and breathed in as the salty air brushed against her face and attempted to send her hair flying back. "This feels really great."

"It does," Ando agreed.

Trisha looked like she wanted to burrow down into the sand, but there were a couple water-filled holes sitting around nearby that showed the results of her previous attempts to avoid the sea spray.

Samuel shook out one of his feet, frowning at the sand that was stuck between his toes. "Couldn't it be solid dirt, and not this stuff? I don't like how it feels between my toes...."

"Do you think you can make it?" Richie looked at his Trainer, concerned. "It's only been four days since...."

Crystal touched her middle absently, remembering the Focus Blast she had taken from Norman's Vigoroth. "Nurse Joy gave me the okay, so I should be fine. And it looks like it's a pretty short distance from here to the other side of the channel." She motioned to the mass of green on the other side of the stretch of water that the group was planning on crossing. "I should be able to make this, but after we take on the next Gym in Fortree, we'll probably have to find a Water Pokemon to befriend." She turned to face all of her team. "Are you guys ready? We're going to be crossing over into an entirely new frontier now."

Samuel gave Crystal a grin. "You know that I'm ready!"

"Where you go, I follow," Ando intoned.

"So long as we get away from this water," Trisha said, eyeing the sea as she backed away from the waves a little.

Richie nodded. "I'm ready, too."

"Okay." Crystal gave a nod, and the four Pokemon returned to their PokeBalls. After checking her backpack to make sure the Egg was settled in nicely -- and looking around the beach to make sure that there wasn't anyone nearby who might see her -- Crystal rose up into the air and flew across the channel to the beach on the other side, where she landed a short distance from the water and moved forward a few steps in order to slow her momentum.

"All right, you guys." Crystal tapped each of the PokeBalls, releasing her team. "We're across. Now to find our way to Fortree so that we can take on the next Gym Leader."

Samuel and Richie looked back across the channel, then at their Trainer.

"That was fast," Samuel noted. "You definitely didn't take your time with that."

"Well, I'm excited," Crystal responded, smiling. "Besides, we're ahead of Brendan and Gold now!"

"I wasn't aware that you were treating your League Challenge as a race between your friends."

Crystal stiffened in surprise when she heard the familiar voice, and she turned in order to see who it was that had spoken. Her eyes widened a moment later. "Steven! What are you doing here?"

"Trying to find Silver." Steven jumped down from a ledge and walked over to them, not looking at all bothered by the sand under his surprisingly nice-looking shoes. "Unfortunately, I haven't been having all that much luck so far. It's almost like he has disappeared off the face of the planet, but Team Magnus certainly hasn't."

"So, you've been running into them while looking for Silver?" Crystal frowned, her invisible tail lashing a bit. "Well, I guess that means they don't want him to be found. But what is it that they're doing...?" She looked at Steven curiously. "And did your search for Silver lead you here? Why?"

"Well, it wasn't really my search for Silver, but...something else." Steven moved his gaze to something that was behind Crystal. "Him, mainly."

Crystal stiffened, then turned slowly in order to see who it was that Steven was talking about. Her eyes widened as her team turned even more quickly, prepared to fight at a moment's notice.

"S-stand down!" Crystal motioned to Richie, keeping him from starting to create a Psycho Cut. "I don't think this Pokemon is an enemy, and even if he was, I don't know if any of us would be able to stand against him."

Richie and Samuel turned and looked at Crystal in surprise, then over at the figure that Steven had directed them to turn and see: a sleek, blue and white Pokemon, with red eyes and a red triangle symbol on the Pokemon's chest.

The Pokemon's head inclined, eyeing Crystal. _"Most Trainers would be more than willing to attack me on sight at the thought of being able to have me on their team. I am...relieved that you aren't similarly minded."_

Crystal's invisible ears went completely upright when she heard the male voice in her mind. "Whoa...."

"I told you that Crystal was different," Steven said, walking over to stand next to the Pokemon. "Crystal, this is Latios, one of the two Legendaries here in Hoenn known as the Eon Pokemon. He's been helping me in my investigation of Team Magnus and their whereabouts."

 _"They have been causing trouble not only for the humans, but for Pokemon as well,"_ Latios said, nodding slightly. _"My sister and I might be in danger of these people, and I wish to stop them before they manage to do any more damage than they already have."_

"Your sister?" Crystal frowned, concerned. "Oh, dear....I hope they haven't gone after my family. Professor Oak said he hadn't heard from Rosa in some time."

 _"Rosa?"_ The ear-like protrusions on either side of Latios' head seemed to twitch. _"You know about Rosa?"_

Crystal ducked her head, feeling a little nervous. "Y-yeah. I'm...her adopted little sister." Her illusion flickered, then disappeared completely as her tail wrapped itself around her waist in a protective manner.

Latios' eyes widened. _"What--"_

"She's the one that they called Mewthree," Steven explained. "Crystal explained that for me, back when I first met her on Dewford."

 _"Ah. I see now. No wonder I was sensing such a strange aura moving around the region. I must admit, I was curious, but you hadn't done quite enough to catch my attention until recently, what with Magnus' movements."_ Latios moved forward, inclining his head as he looked Crystal over. _"Yes...I do sense some of Rosa on you. There is some of that eccentric brother of hers, as well."_

"W-well, Catzin did help me out for a little while, when I was trying to figure myself out." Crystal rubbed the back of her head, her ears swerving a little. "Is -- I mean, do you have a reason for wanting to meet me?"

Latios looked at Crystal for a moment, then turned his attention to her team, eyeing each of them in turn. _"Hmm...well, considering we are both fighting the same enemy, and you are far younger than you appear to be, I would like to travel with you for a time."_

"What?!" Samuel yelped. "Y-you? Travel with _us?"_

"A Legendary, as our _teammate?_ " Richie looked like he was going to fall over out of excitement at any moment.

 _"Not so much a teammate as an ally,"_ Latios corrected. _"I would prefer not to be anchored to a single Trainer, but pretending to be one may allow protection for both myself and Latias."_

"Your sister?" Crystal guessed. At Latios' nod, she nodded. "All right. It's an honor to have an offer like this from a Legendary at all, Latios. To be honest, I...I haven't had an offer like this before." She looked away, feeling embarrassed.

"I would have thought that you would, since you're basically half-Legendary," Steven remarked, frowning. "You should be getting a lot of attention from the Legendaries in general actually, but if you haven't been --"

 _"Mew normally keep to themselves, Steven Stone,"_ Latios replied. _"If any other Pokemon deemed 'Legendary' by humankind have noticed her, then they would have sensed that she was a Mew and would have left her alone. It is only because of our present circumstances that I believe that Crystal should not be left alone."_

Steven blinked a couple times at that, frowning slightly. Then understanding crossed his face. "Ah, I see. That would explain why the Pokemon Mew is only spoken of in legend, then -- Mew manages to avoid the attention of humans and Pokemon unless something else happens. They must be truly in-tune with the balance of things if that is true."

"Well, I'm not so sure about that." Crystal gave a nervous chuckle. "Rosa was able to sense when Mythos and I were being 'born,' though, so I suppose she has some sort of connection. It's been a while since I've heard from her, though, which worries me."

 _"She will no doubt turn up when she is needed,"_ Latios replied. _"Now, as for my offer to journey with you as an ally. Will you accept?"_

Crystal jolted at the question, then nodded vigorously. "Yes -- of course!"

Latios gave a nod in response while Steven gained a strangely knowing smirk.

"Now that you two have agreed, I'd better get going and investigate another lead," Steven explained. "There's a lot going on in the region right now, so keep your eyes and ears open. Magnus could eventually get wind that the two of you are working together, which means you might receive more attention than when you were alone, Crystal."

"I'll keep that in mind." Crystal nodded. "Good luck on your search. I hope you find Silver."

"I hope so, as well." Steven gave a nod, then held up a PokeBall and released his Skarmory. "Good luck on your own journey!"

It didn't take too long for Steven and his Skarmory to fly out of sight. When he had, Crystal turned and looked at her team and Latios. "All right. Latios, we're heading to Fortree next. I don't know if you know this, but we're taking the League challenge along with our battle against Magnus. You don't have to participate in the Gym Battle, but the option's open if you want to. Since we haven't been up this way yet, there might be Magnus people in the area, so we'd better be on guard."

 _"Of course,"_ Latios said, nodding.

"Let's go," Richie added. "I can't wait to give them a piece of my mind."

"Then let's go." Crystal turned and started up the beach towards the trees. Her team followed after her a moment later.

 _"I will be keeping myself cloaked while we travel,"_ Latios said from behind them. _"I will be nearby if you have need of me, but I would prefer to not be seen by every human in the region."_

 _"I understand,"_ Crystal replied as her own ears and tail disappeared from sight. _"I'll let you know if I have need of you."_

_"I would expect nothing less."_

The beach didn't last for all that much longer. It wasn't long before they were back on more solid soil, but Crystal quickly found herself walking in grass that was so tall that it came up over her head.

Crystal pushed the grass out of her face, trying to see what was ahead of them. When a brown-and-white zigzag blur leapt out at her, she jumped back in surprise.

"Aw, you're not a Pokemon." The Zigzagoon landed on the ground in front of Crystal and looked up at her with a sad expression. "I wanted to find someone to play with...."

"Well, I would play with you, but we're kind of in a hurry," Crystal replied, shrugging. "We need to get to Fortree."

"Fortree?" The Zigzagoon cocked his head to one side. "The human tree houses? You wanna go there?" His ears went up. "Oh! Are you going to be looking for Pokemon to help? I've heard Trainers talking about a Gym up there sometimes!"

Crystal frowned. "Sorry, but I already have a full team."

"Oh." The Pokemon's ears flopped in disappointment, only for them to perk up again. "Can I fight your team? Please?"

There was a bright-sounding _shing!,_ and a large amount of grass was cut down, revealing Richie standing in the grass. "I don't see why not. What do you think, Crystal?"

Crystal looked between the two of them. "Well, I guess a few fights wouldn't hurt, but we can't take every challenge that we run into. You can take this one, though, if you want."

Richie grinned. "I definitely will."


	58. Weather Institute

Crystal broke out of the tall grass ahead of her team, stumbling forward when she wasn't met with any resistance by more tall grass. "Whoo!" She brushed off the blades of grass that were stuck to her arms and up in her hair, which was soaked through rather thoroughly. "We'd better find shelter somewhere, because my fur is soaked through and I don't like the feel of it."

"Are you kidding me?" Samuel pushed out of the grass, grinning widely as the water slid down off his mushroom cap. "This rain feels awesome!"

"For you, maybe." Richie stepped out of the grass, followed by Ando, who was making crooning noises. "I'd like to find a place to dry off."

_"If I recall, the humans have taken to studying the weather in the area; there is a building up ahead that they have settled into."_

Crystal looked over at Trisha -- or, rather, the air _above_ Trisha, where the water was clearly stopping before it was hitting the Trapinch. "Do you think they'd be willing to let us stay inside until the weather calms down? I don't know how long it's going to be until that happens."

 _"Yes, the weather here is...quite unpredictable,"_ Latios admitted. _"They have welcomed Trainers in with open arms in the past. There have been Pokemon Rangers who have taken shelter there, as well, but there has been a strange absence of them from this area lately."_

Crystal nodded, frowning. "Yeah, the route feels too odd." She turned and looked up the path ahead of them, frowning slightly as she squinted and looked through the rain. "I, uh...think the building's up ahead...but there's people standing out in the rain."

"There are?" Samuel came forward, squinting. "I don't see anybody."

Richie pushed Samuel's head, causing water to cascade down off the front of his mushroom cap. "It's because of all the water on your head. You've got waterfalls all over the place."

Samuel scowled and was about to respond when Crystal held up a hand, stopping whatever it was that the Breloom was about to say.

"There's something...about their auras," Crystal said, her eyes glowing in the rainfall. "Something aggressive." She lowered her arm. "The building Latios told us about is up ahead. I've got a bad feeling about this."

"Do you think it's Magnus?" Richie looked at Crystal with a frown.

"The people who attached the volcano?" Trisha asked.

"Yeah." Crystal nodded. "Either them, or a group of Trainers who are holding a grudge against someone, but it's probably Magnus." She started moving forward, water flicking off her invisible tail as it twitched back and forth in agitation. "We'd better be careful about what's coming."

The Pokemon gave sounds of confirmation as they followed Crystal, the rain becoming less of a bother now as they turned their attention to the building ahead of them and the people Crystal had spotted.

It wasn't too long before they were spotted by the people Crystal had seen on the bridge.

"Hey! We've got a Trainer coming up here!" One of the two young men blocking the bridge started waving his arms around,

The other one hit his partner over the head. "Are you nuts? Now she's going to know that we're here! The rain's so thick that it would have covered us!"

"Actually, I already noticed that you were there," Crystal replied as she approached the two men. Taking note that their uniforms looked a lot like the ones she had seen on Mt. Chimney, but were colored forest green rather than red, she continued, "Especially since you're Team Magnus."

The two men bristled at Crystal's statement; one of them started to reach for the PokeBalls on his belt, but then the other put an arm out in front of him.

"What do you think you're doing?" the man with his arm in the way hissed. "If we do _that,_ then we're going to get the boss' attention, and you know they're not done in there yet!" He motioned to the building that was a short distance away from them.

"We have to keep Trainers away from the area!" the other replied. "You heard what the boss said!"

Crystal's ears twitched, flicking water off her already soaked fur. "Keep Trainers away, you say?" She looked back at her team, then nodded towards the entrance to the Weather Institute. "Let's go see what's going on in there."

"Wait! Gloom, go!"

Crystal turned sharply when she heard the PokeBall explode. "Richie!"

The Gallade responded instantly, slashing at the strange, bulb-topped Pokemon that one of the Magnus grunts had released. The Gloom stumbled in response to the attack, suddenly appearing to be unsteady on its feet.

"Acid!" The Magnus Trainer pointed at them dramatically as the Gloom started to bloat.

Richie dashed forward and slashed again as the Gloom spat out what it was holding in: a dark purple, liquid substance that caused the Gallade to retreat, wincing and shaking the attack off as the Gloom collapsed.

"Richie, you're not feeling sick are you?" Crystal asked, concerned. "That stuff could have poisoned you."

Richie shook his head. "I feel fine."

Crystal gave a nod in response. "All right. Let me know if you need to take a rest, okay?"

Richie gave a smile and a nod.

"Why you little--" The Gloom was returned, and the Magnus Trainer started grabbing another PokeBall. "Why don't you just--"

 _"Wait."_ The other gave him a glaring frown. "Do you really think that you're going to be able to take out a Trainer? After what happened with the last two kids who tried to come through here? We just have to stay here and keep her from going on."

Crystal frowned. "Where's the logic in that?" she muttered. She looked over at Richie. "Come on. Let's go check out that building over there."

Richie gave a grin and nodded in response. "Yeah."

As the group turned and started for the building, she could hear the two Magnus Trainers arguing behind her about whether or not they should use their Pokemon in order to stop her from going to Fortree or going into the building.

Crystal shook her head as they reached the entrance. "How is it that they're so dangerous and so...so stupid at the same time?" She looked at the doors in front of them. "Well, no reason to think about it now. We've got to figure out what's going on in there."

That said, she promptly walked into the building, the doors sliding off to the side in order to allow Crystal and her team to enter.

What they saw as soon as they stepped inside, however, they stopped short.

"What happened in here?" Richie asked. "It looks like a forest came in and grew over everything!"

"This isn't supposed to happen in buildings owned by humans, is it?" Samuel shot his Trainer a curious look.

Crystal shook her head. "Not unless they're abandoned and falling apart, and this place definitely isn't. This probably has something to do with Team Magnus...maybe a Grass-Type group? Anyway, we're going to have to be careful here -- they could be hiding anywhere."

Almost as though Crystal had said the magic words, one of the machines that was sitting nearby covered over in vines made a loud rattling noise mere moments before a man dressed in a green Magnus outfit leapt at them, yelling.

"Gravity!" Crystal slammed down with one hand, causing the man who was lunging at them to fall to the floor.

Samuel snickered as the man groaned.

Crystal got down into a crouch and looked down at the man, cocking her head slightly. "What are you doing to this place? Why are you here?"

The man looked up at Crystal with a dazed expression -- no doubt crashing into the floor knocked the wind out of him. Then he gained a frowning expression. "What's it to you?"

"I don't think that plants are good for computers, and I definitely don't think that whatever you're doing are ever a good idea." Crystal leaned down a little. "So, what are you doing?"

"Do you think I'm going to tell you?" the man snapped in reply. "You're that Trainer scum that has been causing us so much trouble! I'm not going to tell you what we're doing in the Weather Institute!"

"Oh, really?" Crystal frowned. "Then I guess we'll just have to go through the building and stop you all anyway." She rose to her feet and looked over at her team as she released the Gravity. "Come on -- we've got to find all the Magnus members in the building and make sure that anyone else who might be in the building hasn't been hurt. We might have to split up for a little bit for this."

"I'll go with Richie!" Samuel moved to stand next to the Gallade.

"I'll go with Trisha," Ando added, looking at the Trapinch.

Crystal nodded. "Okay. Let's have a look around this floor. Be careful -- they're probably using Grass Types, and those can sometimes be part Poison."

"Got it." Richie gave a wide grin. "Let's go!"

With that, the two pairs split and moved to opposite ends of the floor that they had entered in on.

 _"I suppose this means we will be working together, as well,"_ Latios noted.

Crystal looked over at where the hidden Legendary was hovering and nodded. "Yeah, if you're willing. I know you can handle yourself."

 _"I can. However, I would like to be able to work side-by-side with a Trainer who can also fight like a Pokemon. Not very many people can say that they are capable of that."_ Latios dropped his illusion, flickering into existence. _"Let's stop Magnus before they cause even more trouble."_

Crystal nodded in agreement, then stepped over the man who was still lying on the floor. She noticed that he was staring in shock at Latios as he hovered after her, and she couldn't help but giggle at the look on his face.

It was mere moments before the entire floor fell into complete chaos as Crystal and her Pokemon companions rooted out the Magnus grunts that were hiding behind computers and other machinery. Samuel seemed to be having fun especially, working back-to-back with Richie as they attacked in tandem when the Grass-Types tried to get to close. Ando and Trisha were attaching themselves to pretty much every other Grass-Type in sight, biting and gnawing until the Pokemon fainted.

Crystal spat a Flamethrower at a Gloom that tried to come at her, causing the Pokemon to faint in one hit. "Why is it that these Magnus grunts have so many Oddish and Gloom? There are a lot more Pokemon out there that they could have chosen from."

 _"Every Trainer has a reason for the Pokemon he or she chooses,"_ Latios replied. He released a stream of blue-yellow fire -- Dragon Breath -- at another Gloom. _"Perhaps all of these Trainers prefer Oddish and Gloom over Roselia?"_

"Hmmm...maybe."

It didn't take them too much longer before all the Magnus grunts and their Pokemon had been successfully clobbered. Crystal and her team quickly gathered together at the base of a staircase at the back of the room.

"Okay, you guys doing okay?" Crystal looked around at her team. "If you have to, we can rest a little bit before we keep going."

"Are you nuts?" Samuel replied. "I'm good to keep going!"

"Same here," Richie agreed, nodding.

"They are not being kind," Ando said, raising his claws. "Let us go and teach them a lesson."

Trisha nodded her head once, making a grunting noise of agreement. Latios did the same.

"All right, then." Crystal gave her team a nod, then turned and started up the stairs towards the second floor. The Pokemon followed after her, sending glares back at the Magnus grunts that they were leaving behind. As they went up, Crystal kept her ears flicked forward in order to try and hear if there was anything going on up ahead that they were going to need to jump into.

"What are you thinking?! You're an idiot if you think we're just going to hand this little guy over, you know!"

"What I'm _thinking_ is that we need that Pokemon!"

Crystal's ears twitched as they reached the top of the stairs. She recognized the first voice, but not the second -- she guessed that was the leader of this particular group. The fact that the Magnus member was going to be a girl this time piqued Crystal's interest.

Crystal stepped onto the next floor, followed closely by the rest of her team. "What Pokemon are you trying to take, Team Magnus?"

"Hey!" Archie, who was standing between a girl and a group of scientists, waved to Crystal cheerily. "Long time, no see! This girl thinks that she can get away with taking a Pokemon that the Weather Institute's been using for research. Maxie's in the back trying to calm the Pokemon down, or else who knows _what's_ going to happen!"

"My name is Leaf!" The girl in a green shirt with the Magnus insignia and a skirt put her hands on her hips. "Not 'girl'!"

"Leaf?" Crystal blinked, eyeing the bright red flowers that were on either side of the girl's head, sticking out from her long, brown hair that went down to her back. "I'm guessing you're a Grass-Type, then."

Leaf stiffened when she heard Crystal's voice, then turned and looked behind her in order to see who it was that had spoken. When Leaf's green eyes found Crystal's blue ones, the Magnus girl started trembling. "Y-y-you! You're Crystal!"

"Yes, I am," Crystal replied. One of her ears twitched when she heard the scientists behind Archie start whispering among themselves, and her tail twitched when she noticed that Leaf seemed to be terrified. She frowned. "Why do you want the Pokemon that the Weather Institute has? What is Magnus planning?"

Leaf's trembling was starting to increase -- so much that she was having a hard time reaching for the PokeBalls on her belt. But she still managed to wrap her fingers around one of the PokeBalls and throw it out, yelling, "Keep her away from me!"

The PokeBall exploded...and any confidence that Crystal had was promptly sent out the window when she saw the glaring red eyes, the black fur, and the sharp _teeth_ as a snarl filled her ears.

All of a sudden, she was back in Viridian Forest, running from the Houndoom as they came rushing after her, howling and biting and burning fire.

**Change in POV**

Richie's eyes widened when Crystal gripped her head and let out a yell of _pain_ before she collapsed on her side and curled in on herself, whimpering and trembling. "Crystal!" He quickly dashed over.

"Get out of my sight!" Samuel rammed into the black and gray Pokemon that Leaf had brought out, hitting it first with a Force Palm and, once he saw the paralysis take hold, hit the Pokemon with a Mach Punch, causing his opponent to collapse. "Stupid Dark-Types...."

Leaf stepped back when she saw the Breloom knock out her Pokemon in two hits, but her gaze was on Crystal as Richie kneeled beside her, pulling her towards him and hugging her carefully. "Wha...."

"Hey!" Samuel turned to look at Trisha and Ando. "Come on! We've got to take her out! She did something to Crystal!"

Ando let out an angry-sounding screech and moved to stand to Samuel's right. Trisha followed after him, tanking a stance on Samuel's left.

Richie looked at the three of them in surprise, still holding Crystal as best he could, since she was trying to tighten herself into a ball as much as she could. He looked down at her, biting his lower lip. "Come on, Crystal. The Pokemon's been knocked out -- you're going to be okay."

Crystal shifted a little, letting out a whine as another shudder wracked her body.

Leaf shook her head. "You Pokemon are all weak to Grass-Type attacks! There's no way that you're going to be able to stand against me!"

"Ha!" Samuel gave Leaf a sneering grin. "Like we're going to let that stop us! _Especially_ after you scared our Trainer to death!" The grin disappeared in an instant, replaced with a snarl. "And you are definitely going to pay for that!"

Samuel lunged forward, flanked by Trisha and Ando, causing Leaf to quickly scramble for the other two PokeBalls attached to her belt.

"Ivy, Bella!" Leaf exclaimed. "Take these Pokemon out!"

"Crystal!" Richie hissed into his Trainer's ear, watching as the two Grass-Types materialized. "We need your help! There's no way that Samuel's going to be able to take on those two Grass-Types, even with Ando and Trisha to back him up! Please!"

 _"You forget that I am here, young Gallade,"_ Latios spoke up, floating into the room from the stairs. _"I will assist Samuel. You stay near Crystal."_

Richie blinked with wide eyes before he gave a nod and went back to trying to get Crystal to come to her senses, rather than stay curled up in a ball.

 _"A Bellossom and an Ivysaur. Interesting choices."_ Latios hovered above the other three Pokemon while Leaf and the other Trainers stared at him in shock.

Leaf took a step back and swallowed. "N-no...no way would that monster have a Legendary partner! Sh-she's a freak!"

"Hey!" Richie looked up sharply, glaring at Leaf. "DON'T CALL MY TRAINER THAT!!!!"

Leaf jumped back at the Gallade's roaring voice, and Richie's teammates instantly took action, ramming into the Ivysaur and Bellossom before the two Grass/Poison-Types could retaliate.

"Eat this!" Samuel slammed into the Bellossom with a Force Palm, sending the little skirt-wearing Pokemon flying back into a wall. Ando rammed into the Ivysaur's side at the same time, biting down onto one of the Pokemon's legs with a fierce Bug Bite that caused the Pokemon to howl in pain.

Latios reared back his head, then lunged forward, spitting out a Dragon Breath that caught the Ivysaur as Ando skittered out of the way.

A moment later, a similar stream of dragonfire caught the Bellossom, causing her to cry out in pain as the flames burned into her.

Samuel, Ando, and Latios all turned in order to see where the source of the fire came from. The Breloom's and Anorith's eyes widened when they saw it, and Latios gave a small smile and a nod in approval.

"Take that!" Trisha declared, now _hovering_ above the ground with four wings working to keep her in the air, and six legs dangling below. The large, green eyes were narrow and filled with determination as they glared at the two enemy Pokemon and Leaf, who was definitely looking like she as at a loss for words as to what was going on in front of her.

"Wow, Trisha!" Richie exclaimed. "Awesome! You evolved!"

Crystal stirred at Richie's exclamation, and her shut eyes relaxed a little. She opened one eye cautiously, then another, blinking blankly for a moment. "Trisha...?"

Richie looked down at Crystal with an expression of relief on his face. "Crystal!"

Ando started growling. Loudly. Richie turned his head to look at the Anorith in surprise as he heard the growl slowly turn into a large roar as Ando started _glowing._

"Ando, what are you doing?!" Richie asked in surprise.

Crystal stirred again, blinking. "An...do?" Her eyes then widened suddenly, and she scrambled up into a sitting position, turning to face the Pokemon in front of her just as Ando started to grow in size, moving to two legs and growing higher than Samuel's head.

The light disappeared abruptly in a shower of sparkles, revealing a tall, two-legged, blue-armored Pokemon with something that looked like feathers running down the sides of his back.

"He pushed himself to evolve!" Crystal exclaimed in alarm.

"He what?" Richie looked at Crystal. "He pushed himself? I didn't think any Pokemon could do that!"

"Ando is different." Crystal rose to her feet, looking a little unsteady. Richie quickly moved in order to provide support. "He's a prehistoric Pokemon, remember? He's different from everyone else that's living nowadays!"

Ando stormed moving towards Leaf, a low growl coming from his throat as Leaf stumbled back, her face paling. Then the Pokemon reared back his head and spat out a large ball of water. "Brine!"

Leaf shrieked as she was hit with the blast, then stumbled and fell over.

Crystal quickly started moving forward, Richie holding her back a little so that she wouldn't end up hurting herself accidentally. "Ando! Trisha! Samuel!"

"Crystal!" Samuel turned around, face beaming. "You're okay!"

Ando turned a little more slowly; Crystal could hear armored plates shifting against each other as the now mostly-blue Pokemon turned to face her. "Mistress...."

"You don't have to call me that," Crystal responded, shaking her head. She reached up and patted the Pokemon on his head, making his eyes close as he let out a croon of pleasure. "Ando, do you know what you are now?"

The Pokemon opened his eyes. "Armaldo. That is what they called me."

Crystal nodded. "Armaldo. Okay, I'll remember that." She turned and looked at Trisha. "Wow, you've gotten big. And you have wings, too!"

Trisha moved a little closer to Crystal, then lowered herself to the ground carefully, saying, "I wanted to be sure that you were going to be okay. That you weren't going to be hurt."

"Which I'm glad for," Crystal replied, wincing a bit.

Richie made a concerned noise, causing Crystal to give him a slightly shaky smile in response.

"Don't worry, okay? I'm fine now," Crystal insisted.

Above them, Latios eyed Crystal with an unreadable expression, then moved his gaze sharply to Archie and the others who had been facing off against Leaf before Crystal's arrival.

Archie held up his hands, showing that he wasn't holding any PokeBalls. "H-hey, my bro and I are friends of Crystal's."

Maxie stepped up next to his brother, holding what looked like a little gray Pokemon that was made up of circles. "Crystal, what happened? And how is it that you managed to find one of the Eon Pokemon?"

Crystal looked over at the brothers, blinking at their questions for a moment before her ears flicked back. "Ah...um...well....can we talk about this in private?"


	59. Chapter 59

"...and that's why I reacted to...that Pokemon."

Maxie and Archie stared at Crystal, then looked at each other. Behind them, Leaf -- who was tied up in some of the vines that had been left lying around because of her team -- looked shocked and a little sick.

"Okay, I definitely get where you're coming from," Archie said, looking back at Crystal and nodding vigorously. "Mighteyna can be pretty scary in and of themselves, but I think Ice-Types are pretty nasty, too."

"Especially considering the damage they are capable of inflicting on the environment," Maxie agreed, nodding. "We had an accident when we were younger involving Ice-Types. Our father had taken us flying and someone shot his Staraptor with an Ice Beam for fun. He made sure to give them a lecture after he managed to get us to land, but that dive could have killed us if our father had been anyone else."

Crystal winced. "Yeah, that definitely sounds bad...."

"And that's why I am _never_ getting myself an Ice-Type," Archie said sourly. "And that includes the ones that masquerade as Water-Types!"

"I...."

The group looked over at Leaf, who looked up at the trio of Trainers nervously while also watching Crystal's Pokemon, who were standing by the stairs in order to prevent the scientists on the second floor from listening in.

Leaf swallowed. "I...didn't think that you had been tortured by Team Rocket like that. I-I knew that Dark-Types were good defenses against Psychic-Types, but--"

"You weren't thinking about what Crystal might have been through," Maxie finished. He frowned. "Why even have a Mighteyna, anyway? You are a Bellossom -- Magnus would have only given you Grass-Types to work with."

Leaf bit her lower lip in response, looking away from Crystal. "It's because I grew up in Celadon. My parents...they were living in the city when it was suddenly ransacked by a Pokemon's Psychic attack. When I heard that you were there when that had happened, I thought you were some kind of monster that was going to destroy everything that moved in your way."

Crystal stepped back, looking as though she had been struck. "A monster...?"

"You know, you're just a pot calling the kettle black," Archie snapped. "I see those flowers in your hair; you're just like she is! Some kid who's part Pokemon!"

Leaf flinched at Archie's tone of voice, and the red flowers in her hair spun a little at the movement.

"Besides, do you think she even had a choice?! She was _born_ like this, you moron!" Archie stomped forward and poked Leaf in the chest, snarling, "And she's learned to _live with it._ With people like _you_ calling her a _monster,_ that's just going to make it even harder for her! Don't think that you can just say things because you don't know what a person's like on the inside!"

Crystal's eyes widened as she heard Archie's words, and she couldn't help but feel a little warm, knowing that he was standing up for her despite the fact that he knew less about her than the friends she had made back in Kanto.

Leaf shrank back from Archie, looking down at the ground.

Maxie walked forward, moving to stand next to Archie with his arms folded across his chest. "Why did you break into the Weather Institute?"

"They wanted the Castform for something," Leaf muttered in reply.

Crystal's ears perked up. "Castform?"

"The little Pokemon I handed off to the scientists when they left," Maxie explained, looking back at Crystal. "It can affect the weather much more strongly than most other Pokemon can. They've been using it to try to predict the weather patterns around here."

"Really?" Crystal's eyebrows shot up. "That little thing?" She paused. "Well, there are some pretty small Pokemon that are pretty powerful, too...."

"I don't know what Alpha is planning, but he wanted the Castform for a reason," Leaf said, looking up at the three Trainers with a frown on her face."

"Alpha?" Archie snorted. "What kind of name is that?"

"It's a code name -- the head of Team Magnus'. I've never met him, and I hope I never get to." Leaf shuddered. "Just meeting his head scientist, Charon, is scary enough."

Crystal stiffened, her tail going straight up. "Charon?"

Maxie and Archie gave Crystal odd looks.

"Crystal, you know this guy?" Archie asked, frowning.

Crystal hesitated for a moment. "Well, I've heard of him. Blaine said he was involved in Mythos' -- Mewtwo's -- creation a little; he sped up my brother's development and made him come out early as a crazy Pokemon that destroyed everything in sight. He was the reason that Celedon had to be rebuilt." She shivered, remembering the carnage.

Leaf's eyes widened. "What? He was?"

"Sheesh, if you know him, then...." Archie looked between Leaf and Crystal. "He got his hands on the data to make the Magnus kids, didn't he?"

Crystal nodded. "Probably, yes." She looked over at Leaf. "Who are the others that you know about? The other kids who are...like us?"

Leaf looked uneasy at the question. "W-well, there's Ruby, Sapphire, and me, for the Fire, Water, and Grass-Types. I'm a Bellossom, Ruby's a Combusken, and Sapphire's part Wailord."

"Wailord?" Crystal frowned.

"Probably the biggest Pokemon in existence," Archie replied proudly. "I'm definitely going after her."

"And I am going after Ruby," Maxie added.

Leaf gave a nod, then kept going. "My brother, Green, is a Bug-Type -- he's a Scyther, and he's got the blades of one on his arms, so he has to wear short sleeves pretty much all the time. Silver's a Scizor--"

"Doesn't Scizor evolve from Scyther?" Crystal asked in surprise. "Does that mean they're brothers?"

"Maybe? I never really thought to ask. But...well, Green acts a lot differently than Silver does, so...." Leaf shrugged as best she could in her bonds. "Gold's a Blitzle. I think he still has his Pokemon mother, Zebstrika, with him."

Crystal's eyes widened. "So _that's_ what's in the PokeBall he hasn't opened...."

Archie and Maxie looked at Crystal with raised eyebrows for a moment, then looked back at Leaf, which she took as a signal to continue.

"Emerald is a Hoenn native. He's a Sudowoodo -- a Rock-Type -- who lived up in Fallarbor for a while. Diamond came from Sinnoh with a couple others -- he's a Hippopotas."

"A what?" Archie asked, frowning.

"A Ground-Type," Maxie and Crystal answered at once. They looked at each other in surprise.

"I ran into him after we ran into Ruby on Mt. Chimney," Crystal explained. "With Brendan."

Maxie gained an expression of understanding and nodded in response.

"He came over with Platinum and Pearl -- a Ghost-Type and a Fighting-Type." Leaf paused. "I think I heard them say that Platinum is a Mismagius, and Pearl is...I think a Meditite?" When she saw the looks of confusion on their faces, Leaf shrugged again. "I don't know what a Mismagius is either."

"What about the others?" Maxie asked evenly.

"Well, there's Xavier Calem and his sister, Serena Calem. They're Flying and Fairy-Types. I think Xavier's an Unfezant -- he's got the wings on his back for it -- and Serena's a Floette from Kalos. And then...." Leaf paused.

"You've got six left, right?" Crystal asked.

"Five." Leaf shook her head. "They haven't found the Normal-Type yet. I think they said they used a Girafarig, but I'm not sure."

Crystal's ear twitched at that, and she remembered a girl with yellow hair and a straw hat.

"Anyway, the last four are pretty important generals, I guess -- or, at least, one of them was. Lauraina -- the Poison-Type -- got demoted after what happened in the Petalburg Woods. Then there's Ryu -- the Dragon-Type who went into Meteor Falls a little bit ago...I think he's a Salamence or something, because the few times I've seen him, he's got red and blue scales on his arms." Leaf paused again. "And then there's Black and White."

Crystal stiffened a little when she heard the two names. "The...Dark and Ice-Types?"

Leaf nodded. "Yeah. White's a Glaceon -- she's definitely got the ears for it. She's ice cold, too -- I haven't seen her reveal any of her emotions. And her brother, Black...He's a Leipard. They're Dark-Types that can steal things from others, and he loves being able to make other people squirm."

Crystal shivered when she heard that.

"What about the last one?" Archie asked. "You haven't said anything about a Psychic-Type yet."

Leaf looked away. "I...don't really know much about her. She takes orders straight from Alpha, but she's not one of his generals. We don't really see much of her, either -- just a flash of multiple colors -- mostly from he gold collar she wears around her neck."

Crystal's ears twitched when she heard that. "Gold collar?"

"I don't know why she wears it; it looks a little too gaudy for my tastes." Leaf frowned. "Are you going to ask me anything else?"

"Why did you decide to join these morons in the first place if all you could have done was just ask Gym Leader Erika for help and maybe borrow her Bellossom for lessons?"

Maxie and Archie stared at Crystal in surprise when they heard the words that came out of her mouth. Leaf blinked in surprise at the suggestion.

"Wh-what? B-but -- but they said she'd turn me down! Call me a freak!"

Crystal's eyes narrowed at Leaf, who ducked her head when she realized what it was that she had just said.

"Erika knows about me. She would have been more than willing to help you out," Crystal said evenly. "Blue might have, too -- and the same goes for Red, if you could manage to find him after he disappeared. It may not look like it, but there are plenty of people in Kanto who know about me and would have been more than willing to help."

Maxie and Archie stared at Crystal with surprised looks before they exchanged glances, then looked at Leaf, who was staring at them with a look of shock on her face.

Crystal closed her eyes and breathed in, forcing herself to relax. "There's one other thing I'd like to ask you."

Leaf blinked. "O-okay."

"Where's your base?"

"Are you planning on _storming_ it?" Archie asked, gaining a wide grin on his face.

"I don't know exactly where the main one is, but I know there are smaller ones scattered throughout the region," Leaf responded. "I'm in the one in Lilycove, and--"

Leaf was cut off suddenly by a bright flash that somehow manage to fill the entire room, blinding Crystal, Archie, Maxie, and Crystal's team. When the group managed to regain their sight, all that there was where Leaf had been a moment ago were the vines that she had been tied up in.

Crystal sighed and shook her head. "That was probably the Psychic-Type Leaf was talking about. I'm starting to get more and more of an idea as to what's going on with her, but it's just leaving me with even more questions." When she saw the confused looks on Archie's and Maxie's faces, she turned and called to Ando, "Did you get a sense of her?"

"She carries Mew's power, like you do, Mistress," Ando replied respectfully, nodding.

"I thought so."

"Mew's power?" Archie repeated. "But...how? I thought you and Mewtwo were the only ones who had it without actually, y'know, _being_ a Mew."

"Well, it looks like there _is_ another Mewthree like me running around, and she's working for Team Magnus." Crystal frowned as she folded her arms across her chest, her tail twitching irritably. "And I don't know if she's doing it of her own free will or not, either."

"Then, that means the scientist Charon made her," Maxie said, frowning. "Which might not have been entirely wise of him."

"I know." Crystal nodded. "Which means we have to find him and put a stop to him before he does anything worse." She started for the stairs, followed by the two boys. "So, what were you guys doing here? I thought you were in Slateport and the desert on Route 111."

"The weather's starting to get really wonky," Archie replied as they started down the stairs. "Devon sent us here to see if we could figure out what was up."

"So far, we haven't really been able to come up with much other than the fact that the sun seems to be gaining strength slowly, and the rainstorms are becoming slightly more powerful over time," Maxie added.

Crystal frowned. "That _is_ bad...do you think Magnus might be behind it?"

"Who knows?" Archie shrugged. "It could be Pokemon having battles for all we know, but we won't know for sure until we can nail down the source."

"Exactly," Maxie agreed.

Crystal nodded. "Okay. I've got both your numbers on my PokeNav, so if anything comes up, will you let me know?"

"Sure!" Archie replied. "It'll probably be a big help with that Magnus hunt you're doing."

"Thanks. And...um...how far away from here is Fortree? Because I think we've had more than enough action for one day."

"It's not far from here," Maxie replied. "We've actually been staying in the Pokemon Center."

"Since there's gonna be a lot of clean-up going on around here," Archie added, "They're probably going to kick us out so that we don't end up accidentally hurting anything they're going to need."

Sure enough, Archie's words were quick to prove true, and the trio of Trainers -- and Crystal's Pokemon -- were soon outside again in a not-quite-so-heavy downpour.

"Come on!" Archie dashed out into the rain, whooping as the water promptly started to soak him.

Maxie sighed and shook his head. "I will never understand him." He then took off running after Archie with more determination to get out of the rain than stay out in it.

"We'd better not lose sight of them!" Crystal told the rest of her team. "Come on! Let's get going!"

**Space Break**

Leaf slipped out of the other girl's grip and turned to face her. "I've been lied to. Crystal _isn't_ some monster -- she's like me! Like us. And she's able to live an actual life out there -- like I used to be able to." Leaf paused and took in a breath. "I want out of this."

The other girl's Mew ears twitched at Leaf's words. "I wish I could get out of this, but...I can't. And I can't help you get away, either. Not after what happened with Gold." She reached up, as though to finger the gold collar that was clamped around her throat, but then she dropped it to her side. "I have my orders. And I can't get away from them."

Leaf's eyebrows came together, wrinkling her brow with a concerned expression. "So, you're not here of your own free will, either."

The other girl paused at that particular statement, then shook her head, her ears plastering themselves against her head. Then she closed her eyes and Teleported away, leaving Leaf standing alone.


	60. Flying Gym

When Crystal woke up the next morning, she felt something wobbling next to her. Her eyes snapped open instantly, and she looked at the Egg, which she had tucked into the bed the night before.

"The Egg is moving!" Crystal exclaimed in surprise.

As soon as Crystal exclaimed this, the Egg stopped twitching, making the Trainer a little disappointed, but not by much.

"It's moving?!" Samuel shot up from where he had been lying on the floor, followed closely by Ando, Trisha, and Richie.

"Well, it was," Crystal corrected. She carefully moved to sit up, watching the Egg in case it started twitching again. "That must mean it's going to hatch soon. We're going to have to be a little more careful for a little while, or else who knows what's going to happen to the Pokemon inside. I definitely wouldn't want anything bad happening to it, that's for sure." She cautiously slipped out of bed, leaving the Egg nestled among the blankets. "Especially if it ended up hatching in the middle of a match."

"Indeed," Ando agreed. He paused. "Mistress, ah...are we going to have a match today?"

Crystal nodded. "Probably, yeah. Norman did say that there's a Gym here, but he didn't say what Type the Gym Leader uses. We're going to have to look around a little in order to figure out if the Gym Leader's in and what Type he or she uses."

A loud growl suddenly filled the room, and everyone turned to look at Richie, who was looking down at his stomach with a wide-eyed expression.

Crystal laughed. "Breakfast would probably be a good idea first, though. Just give me a few minutes to get ready, and we'll head down to the cafeteria and get something."

It didn't take Crystal too long to get washed up and changed, and, after carefully picking up the Egg and putting it in her backpack, she made her way down to the cafeteria with her team.

"So, where are we going to meet Latios?" Richie asked as they sat down with their breakfasts.

"He said I could call for him when we head into the Gym," Crystal replied. "He's probably in Fortree somewhere nearby, and he can take care of himself, so I'm not too worried about him. Let's just...relax for a little bit before we go and find the Gym."

Richie frowned at Crystal's statement, and was about to say something in response when another voice caught their attention.

"Crystal? Is that _you?"_

Crystal looked up from her breakfast of fruits at the sound of the strangely familiar voice, and her eyes widened a moment later when she caught sight of the figure standing a short distance away from them. "Oh! You're one of Red's friends -- Kyle, right?"

The Bird Catcher nodded as he came over and took an empty chair at Crystal's table. "Yeah, that's right. I didn't think I'd end up seeing you here."

"Same goes for you. Red did say you'd gone to other regions looking for more Bird Pokemon, but I didn't think that you'd end up here."

"Crystal, who is this guy?" Samuel asked, eyeing Kyle suspiciously.

Crystal turned and looked at her team, smiling. "This is Kyle. He's a Bird Catcher from Kanto, and one of Red's friends." She turned to Kyle. "Kyle, these are Pokemon I've befriended in Hoenn so far -- Richie, Samuel, Ando, and Trisha."

"It's nice to meet you." Kyle nodded to them, then looked over at Crystal. "So, are you the one who's been running around and causing all the trouble to those Magnus freaks?"

Crystal chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of her head. "And if I said yes...?"

Kyle grinned widely. "It's great to see you putting a stop to them. We've been having some trouble with a group of them armed with Bird Pokemon, but I've been able to make sure that they haven't caused too much trouble."

"That's good." Crystal nodded. She paused. "Wait, _bird_ Pokemon? Have you found a Trainer named Xavier yet?"

"Xavier?" Kyle blinked for a moment, then shook his head. "I don't think so, no. Why do you ask?"

"Because we heard from another member of Magnus...a little while ago...that Xavier was the name of the Flying-Type Trainer that's leading the group you're fighting against." Crystal really didn't want to remember the Dark-Type that Leaf had sent out against her, so she forced the memory into the back of her mind. "If he's in the area, then my presence here might be enough to draw him out."

"You think so?" Kyle folded his arms across his chest, frowning. "Well, if you have been the one getting involved for the most part, I don't see why not. But they haven't really caused us any trouble for a while, so I don't know if this Xavier guy'll even show up."

Crystal frowned at that. "If he hasn't shown up, then maybe I should do something in order to get his attention. Fortree does have a Gym, and I am doing the League challenge, so I don't see why not."

Kyle jolted out of surprise. "Wait -- you _are_ going through the League Challenge? That wasn't a rumor?"

"Uh...no?" Crystal frowned. "What made you think that it was a rumor?"

"W-well, you didn't do the challenge in Kanto _or_ Jhoto, so I thought that you wouldn't do it here, either." Kyle frowned. "What made you decide to take the challenge this time?"

"Professor Birch suggested it," Crystal replied. "And...well, I've been meaning to take the challenge for a while, but I haven't really wanted to, either. Hoenn is my real first chance."

"And your little secret?" Kyle leaned forward a little. "People are talking, Crystal. They're spreading rumors that there are Trainers who are Pokemon, too. They haven't started naming names, but it probably won't be too much longer before that secret of yours gets out."

Crystal's invisible ears flattened as her tail twitched at Kyle's words. "Even if there are people talking, I can't exactly avoid it now. Team Magnus knows who I am because they stole the data Blaine had when he created me, and the Gym Leaders know who I am, too. I don't like the idea that my secrets are getting out faster out than I would like, but there's nothing that I can really do about it. "

Kyle blinked at that, then gave a sigh. "Yeah, if you put it _that_ way, I guess not. And it means that Winona probably knows about you, too."

Crystal's invisible ears perked up. "Winona? Is that the name of the Gym Leader?"

Kyle nodded. "Yeah. I've been working in her Gym for a while; I've found a lot more Flying-Types than I ever could have as a result." He grinned. "What about you? Got any Flying-Types yet?"

"Well, I'd thought that Trisha was one at first, but then the PokeDex said last night that she is actually a Ground and _Dragon-_ Type with the ability Levitate." She nodded to Trisha, who was on the table with her empty bowl of Pokemon food. Crystal considered mentioning Latios, as well, but then decided against it. "So, I don't have any Flying-Types yet, but I haven't really run into any that have gotten my interest."

Kyle gained a scowling expression at that. "Oh, come on. You can't just avoid it forever -- you're going to need to get a Flying-Type _sometime._ They're strong against some Pokemon that some flying Pokemon aren't."

"I know that," Crystal replied. She looked around at her team, noticing that each one of them was done eating. "All right; it looks like we're done with our breakfasts, so let's go and find Winona's Gym."

"You don't need to go looking for it," Kyle replied, grinning. "I can take you there myself. Come on."

Crystal did have to return Ando to his PokeBall because of how heavy the evolved Pokemon now was. As Fortree was -- for the most part -- made up of tree houses with ladders and rope bridges, Ando would have caused some damage that would have taken out the city's walkways as they made their way to the Gym.

"So, are you staying in the Pokemon Center?" Crystal asked as they started across one of the rope bridges. "Or are you sleeping in one of these houses?"

"One of Winona's Gym Trainers is letting me stay with him," Kyle replied. "And it is _amazing_ to sleep in one of these! It feels like you're a bird Pokemon, sleeping in a nest somewhere!"

Crystal smiled when she saw how bright and happy Kyle looked at the thought. "That must be quite the experience."

"It really is. You oughta try it sometime." Kyle gave Crystal a grin.

"Well, I'll think about it. I wouldn't want Ando to miss out on anything we do, though...." Crystal frowned. "And I don't know how well he'd take to being in a tree."

Kyle's grin faltered a bit at that. "Oh, yeah. Yeah, that guy might make things a little hard." He stepped off the rope bridge and moved over to a nearby ladder. "The Gym's one of the few buildings that is actually on the ground, so you can let him out when we get down."

Crystal nodded, then followed the Bird Catcher down to the ground. _"Latios, are you nearby?"_

_"Indeed. I will follow you in; if you need me, I have no qualms about getting involved in your Gym Challenge."_

_"Thanks."_

Crystal touched the ground and stepped away from the ladder, then released Ando and looked at the building ahead of them. "So, that's Winona's Gym?"

Kyle nodded. "Yup. We're all early risers, so she should be in there by now." He walked over to the entrance and threw the doors open before walking inside, followed by Crystal and her team.

Crystal's eyebrows shot up when she saw the inside of the Gym. "Whoa! Winona has a _tower_ inside her Gym?!"

"Of course she does!" A Gym Guide popped into Crystal's vision. "Winona wants to be as close to the sky as possible, so she waits at the top of the tower for challengers who are willing to reach that height, too! If you want to be able to do anything against her team, then you're going to need Electric-Types, Ice-Types, or Rock-Types to knock them out of the sky."

Crystal took Ando's PokeBall and released the Pokemon, saying, "I think that we'll be able to handle that."

Ando looked up at the tower ahead of them. "Mmm....."

"Ah." The Gym Guide took a step back, looking surprised. "That's...my goodness. I don't think that Trainers have come in with a Pokemon like _that_ before."

"Ando's different." Crystal nodded to the Armaldo. "We're going to have to climb up that tower to reach the Gym Leader, and there are going to be Flying-Type Trainers in the way. We're going to be relying on you a lot for this; are you ready for it?"

Ando kept his gaze on the tower as he nodded. "I am stronger than I was. I should be able to stand up to the challenge."

Crystal nodded while Kyle's and the Gym Guide's jaws dropped at the Pokemon's words. "Okay. Let's go, guys!"

The Trainers in the Gym definitely hadn't been expecting the lumbering Pokemon that Crystal had on her team, and they were definitely even more shocked when he knocked out the Flying-Types he was sent up against in one or two hits. Occasionally, Richie or Trisha would switch in and take out Duduo or Swablu, but Ando managed to carry the rest of the team up the rest of the tower.

 _"Ando has gained quite some strength since what happened yesterday,"_ Latios commented as Ando destroyed a Dodrio with a Crush Claw.

 _"Yeah, he has."_ Crystal looked at the arena that was ahead of them, and the woman with an outfit that she'd only seen pilots wear -- except that she hadn't seen someone with wings on the sides of the hat before. _"He's going to be a big help in the future."_

_"Indeed. Do you believe that you will require my assistance in this upcoming challenge?"_

Crystal paused at the question. Would she? Her team _had_ been able to work her way through the Gym Trainers without relying on the Legendary, but Ando had been the one she had been relying on the most.

_"Ando might get exhausted soon. When that happens, I might need your help."_

Latios seemed to consider this for a moment. _"Very well."_

Crystal gave a nod, then looked at each of her Pokemon before she walked out onto the arena at the top of the tower.

"So, you're not going back to visit the Pokemon Center?" The woman on the other side of the circular area looked at Crystal with interest. "Most Trainers who are only starting usually make it a habit to do so."

Crystal's invisible ears twitched at that. "Really? But that would ruin the Gym Challenge for them, wouldn't it?"

"For some, yes. I have seen an odd influx of Trainers who have been beginners." The woman -- Winona, Crystal guessed -- looked Richie and the others over with an expression of interest. "Although, judging from your team, you definitely aren't a beginner."

"We have five Badges, so I hope that I don't look like one." Crystal nodded to Richie. "We just beat Norman a little less than a week ago, and I wouldn't have managed to get that far without my team's help."

"Not many Trainers would admit that." Winona removed one of the four PokeBalls from her belt. "Especially when they have a Legendary as a part of their team."

Crystal stiffened in surprise. "How did you--"

"I've become so in-tune with the air currents in my Gym that I'm able to tell when there's a Pokemon flying around somewhere and disrupting the air flow. And there are only two Flying Pokemon who are able to do that without making themselves visible to the naked eye." There was a twinkle in Winona's eye as she turned and looked at one side of the arena. "You may as well show yourself, Eon Pokemon!"

Latios promptly dropped his illusion. _"I am impressed that a human was able to tell where I was. You truly are one with the winds as they say."_

"Not as much as you are," Winona replied. She turned and looked at Crystal. "What's your name, Trainer?"

"Crystal." Crystal's tail twitched slightly as her illusion flickered. "You've probably heard that I was coming."

"Indeed I have." Winona tossed the PokeBall, releasing a Skarmory that instantly took to the air. "So, you've managed to defeat Norman, then. That's no simple task when you have a team such as yours."

Ando stepped forward, taking up a position in front of Crystal as he glared up at the Skarmory.

"We've been able to do pretty well so far," Crystal replied. "Ando's evolving...it got me out of a tight spot yesterday."

The Armaldo let out a rumbling growl.

"Well, I hope that you'll be able to survive whatever 'tight spots' that I'm going to give you." Winona looked up at Skarmory. "Aerial Ace!"

"Ancient Power as it's coming down!"

The Skarmory flew down towards Ando, the wind whipping around it as Ando summoned a large number of boulders, which collided with the Flying/Steel-Type moments before it hit the Armaldo.

Ando stumbled back at the Aerial Ace collided with him, shaking his head and wavering a bit before he managed to regain his balance. A growl slipped out of his throat as he glared up at the Skarmory, which looked like it was having a little of a difficult time staying in the air itself.

“Not a bad first hit,” Winona praised. “But you’re not going to be able to make a hit like that again. Air Cutter!”

“Ancient Power!” Crystal responded quickly.

Skarmory was hit in the face by a second barrage of rocks as it attempted to stir up some winds as an attack. It fell to the Gym floor a moment later, knocked out cold.

Winona gained an impressed expression as she returned the Pokémon, quickly switching for another PokeBall. “Pelipper, you’re next! Water Pulse!”

“Latios, switch in and use Dragon Breath!” Crystal said quickly.

Ando pulled back as the other Pokémon suddenly moved in, startling the Pelipper enough that the Water Pulse missed and the Dragon Breath hit its mark.

“Calling in your trump card so quickly?” Winona gained a surprised expression.

“Latios actually isn’t the strongest on the team right now – Ando is,” Crystal replied. “I think one more hit will take care of that Pelipper, Latios!”

“Indeed,” the Legendary agreed. He reared back slightly and released another douse of dragonfire, catching the Pelipper sending it crashing to the floor.

Winona returned her second Pokémon and released her third – a sleek bird Pokémon with nearly-black feathers covering its back, red and white on its face and underbelly. “Swellow!”

“Ando, you’re up again! Ancient Power!” Crystal motioned the former fossil forward as Latios moved back.

“Aerial Ace!” Winona ordered.

Ando roared and summoned the boulders for his attack, throwing them at the opponent Pokémon as the Swellow came straight at him. The rocks collided at the same time that the Swellow flew past Ando, leaving what looked like a slash-like streak across Ando’s middle.

The Flying-Type circled around into the center of the gym floor, then faltered in its flight as Ando knelt down on one knee, panting heavily.

“Ando!” Crystal exclaimed out of concern. “Hang on!”

“Swellow, don’t give in!” Winona called.

Swellow struggled to stay in the air as Ando pushed against the ground in order to rise to his full height. The bird Pokémon flapped its wings rapidly, but it was starting to fall to the ground regardless, and Ando wasn’t having any luck getting off his knee.

The gym floor shook as Ando and Swellow collapsed at once.

“Ando!” Crystal called with worry.

The Armaldo didn’t answer.

“It seems that your powerhouse has been knocked out,” Winona called as she returned her Pokémon. She pulled out one last Pokémon and rolled it around in her hand.

Crystal gulped at that, gaining a nervous expression. Then she sighed and returned Ando to his PokeBall and looked over at Latios.

Latios nodded in response and moved forward as Winona released her fourth Pokémon – a blue and white Flying-Type that looked like it was covered in clouds instead of feathers.

“What kind of Pokémon is that?” Crystal asked, eyes widening. “It’s beautiful!”

“That is an Altaria,” Latios replied. “We are going to have to be careful; it’s part Dragon.”

Crystal’s eyebrows shot up at that, and she gained a determined expression and nodded. “Got it. Let’s start things off with a Dragon Breath!”

“Attack in kind!” Winona replied.

The blue-yellow streams of dragonfire collided with each other in the center of the fight area, and the two Dragon Pokémon started to circle each other, pouring their strength into the attack in an attempt to overpower the other.

Crystal crossed her fingers – an action she’d seen done by other Trainers many times over the course of her travels through Kanto and Jhoto. “Come on, Latios – you can do it!”

“He may be a Legendary, but that doesn’t mean you have to hold back now!” Winona called to Altaria. “Give it everything you’ve got!”

Altaria flapped her wings twice before forcing her head forward, sending an extra burst of power along her stream of flames.

Latios’ feathers almost seemed to shift, making him look slightly larger for a moment before he sent an extra burst of flames along his Dragon Breath, as well.

The resulting blasts of flames and energy met in the middle, creating a bulge of power that looked like it was going to explode at any moment.

A strange sheen suddenly shone on Latios’ feathers, and his eyes flashed with a power that Crystal immediately identified as Psychic. “Luster Purge!”

Latios suddenly flashed with a bright light that traveled up his Dragon Breath and pushed the bulge of power back towards Altaria, catching the opponent Pokémon by surprise. The other Dragon-Type broke off its attack and started flying out of the way, but the combined dragonfire and Psychic attack hit Altaria in the side before it could get out of the way, sending the Pokémon flying.

Winona quickly returned Altaria before the Pokémon could be flung too far. “You’ve defeated me, young lady. Excellent work. I wasn’t expecting Latios to combine two of his attacks together.

Crystal let out a sigh of relief that she hadn’t realized she had been holding, and her shoulders relaxed as Latios flew over next to her. “To be honest, I wasn’t either.”

 _“I saw a chance, and I took it,”_ Latios replied calmly.

“Well, that chance you took is making me rethink the fact that I’d decided against Mega Evolving Altaria for this fight.” Winona walked across the battlefield towards Crystal.

Crystal blinked in confusion. “Mega Evolving? I haven’t heard of that before.”

“Really?” Winona raised an eyebrow as she came to a stop in front of Crystal. “Considering that you’re part Pokémon yourself, I would have thought that you would have heard something.”

Crystal shook her head. “I’m afraid not. I tend to avoid people because of…” She trailed off and motioned to the top of her head, causing one of her ears to twitch when her fingers got close.

Winona nodded. “I see. While I’m not an expert on the subject, Mega Evolution is when you take the bond between yourself and certain Pokémon to the next level. Certain items – a Key Stone and a Mega Stone named for a specific Pokémon – allow Trainers to focus on the bond that they share with their Pokémon, and it causes a temporary transformation that makes your Pokémon stronger than they were before. It only lasts as long as a battle does, however, and Trainers have been restricted to one Mega Evolution per battle, if they have what they need in order to make it happen.”

“Huh.” Crystal gained a thoughtful expression. “I wonder if it would work for me, since I’m both human and Pokémon.”

“It’s definitely something to think about,” said a familiar boy’s voice, “but I wouldn’t recommend trying it without the proper equipment and an experienced Trainer nearby in case something happens.”

Crystal stiffened when she heard the voice from behind her, and she turned sharply in order to see where it was coming from.

Standing a few feet away from her, on the stairs leading up to the platform Crystal, her team, and Winona were on, was a familiar boy that Crystal had only seen once before – when she had been going to Dewford with Gold.

“Xavier!” Crystal exclaimed.

The figure who had been standing behind Crystal looked just like she’d remembered him being when she’d seen him before – wearing mostly blue, red and white baseball cap over his brown hair, and sky blue eyes.

“You know this Trainer?” Winona asked as she moved to stand next to Crystal, an expression of interest crossing her face.

“We’ve met before,” Xavier replied with a shrug.

“He’s with Magnus,” Crystal explained without breaking eye contact with Xavier. She, Richie, Trisha, and Latios all shifted into defensive positions, ready to attack at any moment.

“I see.” Winona’s voice became harsher. “What are you doing in my gym, boy?”

“I’m just here to deliver a message; I’m not here to fight.” Xavier lifted up his blue jacket, exposing his waist and revealing that there weren’t any PokeBalls attached to his belt. He let his jacket drop. “You’re causing quite a stir in the team right now, you know, what with everything you’ve done so far. You’re going to be getting a lot more attention now from the members you haven’t run into yet.”

“I’m ready for them,” Crystal replied.

Xavier raised an eyebrow. “Really? Because the Dark-Type Admin is really looking forward to sinking his teeth into you.”

Crystal winced back, the word teeth bringing back unpleasant memories. Richie and Samuel moved in front of her, bringing up their fists and clearly prepared to fight Xavier at a moment’s notice.

Xavier nodded. “I see you’ve already got Pokémon that are going to be strong against him; good. I’m not too much of a fan of him, either, to be honest.” He looked over at Latios with an impressed expression. “And you’ve befriended a Legendary, too; that’s good. You’re going to need him if you’re going to be able to reach our bases.”

Crystal shook her head and looked at Xavier in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“They’re all located out on islands on the fringe of the Hoenn region. The only way that you’re going to be able to reach them is if you can fly or Surf there.” Xavier nodded to Latios.

 _“Why are you telling us this?”_ Latios asked. _“If you are a part of Magnus, you would be keeping these things secret, would you not?”_

Xavier shrugged. “Some of us aren’t doing this because we want to. I’ve got the most freedom, so I figured that I’d tell you what I could before Alpha pulled me back in.” He turned and started back down towards the Gym entrance before he paused. Then he looked back and added, “Make sure Gold knows that he’s got friends on the inside who weren’t able to get out like he was, all right?”

Then he leapt off the stairs and through the air down to the Gym’s entrance, and walked out as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

“Would you mind filling me in on what just happened here?” Winona turned to look at Crystal, one eyebrow raised.

Crystal hesitated. “Well—“

“Did that Trainer just fly across the Gym?!” Kyle ran up the stairs to the platform, wide-eyed.

“…this should probably be something you both should hear,” Crystal said.

**Time Break**

The explanation of the region’s present situation – and what Crystal had exactly been doing – didn’t take too long.

“You’re telling me that some freak is pulling what Giovanni did?!” Kyle gritted his teeth. “I thought that they had that stuff under lock and key! If that Xavier kid’s going to be forced to fight, he’s mine, got it?”

Crystal blinked in surprise at the exclamation. “Uh…yeah. Sure.” She fingered Ando’s PokeBall nervously.

“And when I fight that kid, I’m going to get him out of there.”

Crystal looked at Kyle sharply at that, surprised. “Get him out?”

“Well, yeah. If he doesn’t like what he’s being forced to do, I could probably get him out of there. I mean, I’ve found some pretty fast Flying Pokémon, so it shouldn’t be a problem.” Kyle gained a confident expression and grinned. “And with you and the other Trainers you mentioned taking them on, too, I bet their forces are going to be spread thin! They won’t know what hit them!”

“If you can find where this base of theirs is located,” Winona spoke up. She turned and looked at Crystal. “I can see that you have a lot of weight on your shoulders. Perhaps this will help to lighten some of it.” She held out a hand; sitting in it was a Badge shaped like a feather, and underneath it was a TM disk. “This is the Feather Badge, and this is the Technical Machine for Aerial Ace. It’s a Flying-Type attack that quite a number of Pokémon can learn, and it always hits its target without fail. And, if you manage to get the Hidden Machine Fly, you will also now be able to make use of it outside of battle.”

Crystal nodded, accepting the items. “Thank you.”

“Now, you should probably go back to the Pokémon Center and rest up for the rest of today; tomorrow you can go on to Lilycove and find that base that you were told about.”

Crystal nodded again. “That was my plan.” She turned to look at Kyle. “Good luck with finding Xavier.”

“Thanks. Good luck with all the attention that you’re going to be getting!” Kyle gave Crystal a thumbs-up. “You’re definitely going to need it.”


	61. New Team Member

The next morning, Crystal’s team was fully revived and ready for the journey to Lilycove.

Crystal adjusted her backpack’s position on her back as she looked out over the route on the other side of Fortree. “You guys ready to go?” She turned to look at her team, and received a number of nods in response. “All right. Let’s go.”

Crystal was only able to take five steps before her backpack started shaking violently.

“Whoa!” Crystal quickly pulled the backpack off her back and unzipped the largest pocket, revealing the Egg that she had been given back in Lavaridge. And it was shaking and making whimpering noises.

“It’s hatching!” Richie looked at the Egg with excitement, crouching down next to Crystal as the others moved around her, looking down at the Egg as it started glowing.

“I can’t believe that I’m actually seeing an Egg hatch right now,” Crystal murmured, a bright light shining in her eyes as she looked down at the Egg excitedly.

When the Egg’s form shifted into the form of a small, four-legged Pokémon, and the glow faded into dark grey fur and bright red eyes and nose, however, Crystal’s eager expression shifted to curiosity.

“I haven’t seen a Pokémon like this before….” Crystal reached into her backpack and pulled out her PokeDex, pointing it at the new Pokémon.

_“Poocheyna, the Bite Pokémon, and the pre-evolved form of Mighteyna. A tenacious Pokémon, it will chase after its chosen prey using its acute sense of smell until its prey becomes exhausted. However, if its chosen prey strikes back, it will turn and flee. This Pokémon is a Dark-Type.”_

Crystal’s team stiffened, and the PokeDex fell from Crystal’s limp hands.

“Dark-Type!” Crystal yelped, scrambling back into Ando’s front while the little dog-like Pokémon looked around at his surroundings and at the other Pokémon around him with confusion and awe.

 _“A Poocheyna,”_ Latios noted. _“A mere baby at that. I doubt that he would be able to cause you any harm at this point in time.”_

Crystal shuddered as Ando reached down and gripped her shoulders in an almost reassuring manner. “S-still, he’s going to evolve and become a Pokémon that can harm me. M-mighteyna….”

The Poocheyna turned his head when he heard Crystal’s whimpering voice, and the Pokémon let out a whine and moved to get closer, but Ando gave a glowering glare that made the little Dark-Type stop short.

 _“That may be true, but I believe that you did promise to take care of the Pokémon in the Egg, did you not?”_ Latios bent down and nudged the Poocheyna’s side with his head, making a gentle cooing noise that got the Pokémon’s attention. The Poocheyna licked Latios’ face in response, making the Legendary give a small smile.

Crystal winced as she remembered what had happened in Lavaridge, and nodded slowly.

 _“If you are so concerned that he could harm you, perhaps you should check to see what moves he knows at his young age?”_ Latios suggested as the Poocheyna started to work his way around to the other Pokémon. _“Your device should be able to tell you, correct?”_

Crystal considered that, then nodded as the Poocheyna started to sniff at Richie’s leg curiously. She picked up the PokeDex again and pointed it at the small Dark-Type. “O-ok. It knows Tackle and…Play Rough?” Crystal frowned. “It says here that’s a Fairy-Type attack, not a Dark-Type one. But I thought that Dark-Types were weak to moves like that.”

_“They are. But they can sometimes learn moves that they are weak to from their parents; this one might have a Fairy-Type parent.”_

The Poocheyna looked up at Richie and yipped happily, wagging his tail and panting, tongue lolling out of his mouth.

“I’ve heard about that happening sometimes,” Richie remarked. He paused for a moment, then bent down and pet the Poocheyna, getting a happy whine from the Pokémon. “Poocheyna are really common by Littleroot. They’re pretty harmless, but I’ve heard some Trainers say that they’re really loyal Pokémon.”

Crystal blinked at that. “R-really?” She looked at the Poocheyna cautiously, watching him react positively to Richie’s petting. “…well, I guess he is kind of cute, for a Dark-Type….and if I’m going to take care of him like I promised….” She bit her lower lip.

 _“Consider this, Crystal.”_ Latios turned his head to focus on her. _“There are Dark-Type Legendaries, and considering who you are and who you share kin with, I have no doubt that you will eventually meet them. Darkrai and Yveltal might express interest in you, if you ever journey to the regions that they call their own.”_

Crystal stiffened at that. “Th-there are…Dark-Type Legendaries?”

_“You were not told?”_

Crystal shook her head vigorously. “I-I never learned about the Legendaries that existed until after what happened with Mythos. A-and Rosa and Catzin never told me that there were….” She trailed off. “M-maybe, because of how I reacted to Dark-Types in general, they were trying to protect me?”

_“That certainly could be the case. However, you are no longer young. You are going to have to face your fear sooner or later, before it becomes difficult for you to be able to live in the world. Trainers befriend all Pokémon, regardless of Types, and there are many who prefer to use Dark-Types over others.”_

Crystal shuddered at that.

 _“Take care of this young one.”_ Latios motioned to the Poocheyna with a paw. _“He is still young, and he has not seen the world as you have seen it. He has not experienced this world as you have. Give this child a chance.”_

Crystal hesitated, then nodded slowly. “A-all right.” She reached into her backpack and pulled out a PokeBall and rolled it towards the Poocheyna, bumping the button against his leg. The little Dark-Type was sucked inside with a yip of surprise.

The Ball twitched three times before settling with a click.

Crystal picked up the PokeBall with shaky hands, then nodded and started to clip it to her belt, but Latios reached out and took hold of her wrists.

 _“If you are going to do this properly, he is going to have to travel outside with us,”_ the Legendary explained gently. _“And I assume that you give all of your Pokémon names as well, correct?”_

Crystal shifted nervously, but she nodded reluctantly and let the Poocheyna out into the open again.

“Yip!” The little Pokémon ran in an excited circle, then stopped short in front of Latios, who nudged him towards Crystal. The Poocheyna was clearly startled by the action, and looked up at Crystal and Ando with wide eyes. Something about him almost seemed hesitant, which surprised Crystal, having been the receiving end of Dark-Types glaring at her a few times already.

“Um….” Crystal paused, thinking over what she already knew about Poocheyna and what he could evolve into. “Mike. That’s going to be your name.”

The Poocheyna – Mike – cocked his head to one side, blinking.

“I’m…I’m Crystal.” Crystal motioned to herself. “I’m your Trainer. A-and these are Ando, Richie, Samuel, Trisha, and Latios.” She motioned to each of the Pokémon in turn.

Mike turned his head around and yipped happily when he saw Richie, going over to the Gallade and looking up at the Psychic/Fighting-Type happily, his tail wagging with so much force that his entire body was shaking.

“Hi.” Richie reached down and scratched the top of Mike’s head, getting another happy whine from the Dark-Type.

Crystal fidgeted for a moment, then sighed and rose to her feet, putting her PokeDex back in her backpack and swinging it over her shoulders. “Okay. We should probably get moving if we’re going to make it to Lilycove before night falls. If Xavier’s right, then they might be doing something to the base they have there in order to prepare for the fact that I’m coming.”

“Most likely,” Ando agreed.

Crystal started walking down the path, away from Fortree and towards the patches of grass that rose high above her head. Her team followed after her, Richie pausing only to pick up Mike and run after them.

“Crystal, we should probably slow down a little if we’re going to train Mike.” Richie slowed to a walk at the back of the group, holding the squirming Dark-Type firmly in his arms.

Crystal stumbled at that and turned sharply in order to look back at Richie, wide-eyed. “Train him? When we have to stop Team Magnus from doing who knows what?”

“Uh…he kinda does have a point,” Samuel spoke up. “Mike knows a Fairy-Type attack, so he could help against some of the Magnus grunts that we might be up against.”

Crystal hesitated at that, her eyebrows coming together as he invisible tail lashed and her invisible ears flicked back. “I said that I’d take care of him, but I don’t know if I’m ready to train a Dark-Type yet. Just having him on the team like this is making my instincts scream at me that this is a bad idea.”

Her Pokémon exchanged looks at that.

 _“Take your time,”_ Latios said finally, nodding. _“But Richie is right; taking breaks for the sake of our new member would be a wise idea. Give him time to run around without being left behind, and time to rest, as well. Dark-Type or not, he is still a Pokémon – and a recently-born one at that.”_

Crystal hesitated again, then nodded slightly. “All right. I…I guess that wouldn’t hurt.” She paused and sighed. “Sorry if I seem off, it’s just…I don’t know what to do right now with him.” She looked over at Mike for a second, who looked back at her with a confused expression for a moment before Crystal looked away from him. “Everything I know about Dark-Types is what I learned from Team Rocket – they’re mean, they’re terrifying, and they’ll tear you to pieces at the first chance they get. If they’re cute, then it’s even worse when they turn on you suddenly and aim for what will damage you the most.”

Her team exchanged worried looks at that; Mike let out a whine and looked up at them with concern.

“I know things are a little different this time, because he’s on my team, but…I’m still worried that, when he evolves….” Crystal trailed off and shuddered, remembering what had happened back at the Weather Institute with Leaf’s Mighteyna.

“If this young Pokémon does attempt to pull something like that, then we shall make sure that he does not harm you, Mistress,” Ando promised. “You have my word on that.”

Crystal blinked at that, then saw the other determined looks that she was receiving from the rest of her team, and she gave a small smile and nodded. “A-all right. We’ll take it slow.”

**Time Break**

Just as Crystal promised, the group made multiple stops as they made their way down the route, taking challenges from wild Pokémon and Trainers along the way – all the while making sure that Mike didn’t get himself involved, even though the Poocheyna clearly wanted to be.

A good distance down from Fortree, Crystal called for a halt for the sake of lunch.

Crystal sat back against one of the stones that circled a taller spire of rock and stiffened suddenly in surprise. “Whoa!”

Richie looked up from his meal in surprise at his Trainer’s cry, Mike looking over as well. “What is it?”

Crystal turned to look at the stone she had been leaning against and looked it over, then quickly scanned the other rocks that circled the spire. “This place…it’s got an energy of some kind that I haven’t felt before. I’m…I’m not sure how to describe it, though.”

Latios moved closer to the stones, cocking his head to one side curiously. _“I’ve felt this aura before.”_

“Really?” Crystal turned to look up at the Legendary on her left in surprise. “Where?”

 _“Over the sea near Dewford and in the deepest corner of the desert. Almost as though there is a presence here, but it’s hard to say where exactly or what sort of presence it is.”_ Latios looked over at Crystal. _“I have heard the humans speak of rumors that there are Legendary Pokémon sleeping within these stones, but I haven’t lived long enough to know for certain if what they are saying is true. Latias’ and my parents might have known something about these stones, but they’ve long since passed on.”_

“Oh.” Crystal’s expression became a little more subdued at that. “How long has it been?”

 _“Quite some time. They were well on in years, and it was time for them to pass on.”_ Latios bowed his head for a moment, then looked over at Crystal. _“There may be others of my kind who know why these places release the aura that they do, but now is not the time to worry about that. We have more pressing matters in the form of Magnus.”_

Crystal nodded in agreement. “Yeah, definitely.”

“What’s a Magnus?”

The innocent, young male voice caught Crystal by surprise, and she turned to look down to her left before stiffening when she saw Mike sitting a short distance from her.

It was amazing how quickly the little Pokémon was picking up words and phrases from the others – even if he was speaking in growls and yips and not in English like Ando was. Crystal hadn’t had a question directed at her yet, though.

“A-ah…” Crystal swallowed. “Magnus is the name of a group of people that we’re up against. They’re doing bad things, but I don’t know what the full extent of their plan is going to be.”

“If you don’t know, then why are you against them?” Mike cocked his head to one side.

“Because they’ve done things to places already that aren’t good for them,” Crystal replied, thinking back. “They’ve tried to poison an entire forest and hurt the Pokémon that live in it, and they’ve nearly made a volcano that could have destroyed an entire town of people. They terrorized an entire town and held them hostage for reasons that I haven’t been able to comprehend yet, and caused trouble in a desert around some kind of old tower that looked like it could break apart in the sandstorm at any moment – and it did, after they left.” She sighed and shifted her sitting position, pulling her knees up against her chest and wrapping her arms around them. “I don’t know what they’re planning, but whatever it is, it can’t be good.”

Mike’s ears flopped down as his eyes widened. “I don’t know what all that means, but it doesn’t sound good.”

Crystal silently shook her head, turning her attention away from the little Pokémon and focusing on the aura that surrounded the place instead. There was definitely something powerful about it -- perhaps almost on the Legendary scale. Was it something from the time that the Mew had a civilization, maybe?

She was concentrating so much on the aura that she nearly jumped into the air in surprise when she felt a cold, wet nose press against her hands, followed by an equally cold, wet tongue. Quickly, she looked up to see where the sensation was coming from.

Mike scrambled back a few steps, looking wide-eyed at Crystal’s sudden movement.

Crystal pulled her hands out of Mike’s reach and inspected them for a moment before sighing in relief. “It’s only saliva.”

“D…did I do something wrong?”

Crystal blinked at the question and looked up, noticing that Mike was looking at her with a sorrowful expression. She blinked again in confusion, frowning slightly. “Wrong? What makes you think that?”

“W-well….” Mike trailed off, his ears and tail drooping. “You’re looking at me like you don’t want me. B-but you’re my Trainer, right? Doesn’t that mean you wanted me?”

Crystal jolted at the question, her eyes widening. “Mike….”

“Richie said bad things happened to you before. Were they…because of me?”

Crystal shook her head. “No. They…they happened ten years ago. You weren’t even an Egg then.”

“Then why do you look at me like that?”

“I’m just….” Crystal trailed off, biting her lower lip as she tried to think of a way to describe what was going through her mind.

 _“Be honest,”_ Latios encouraged.

Crystal’s gaze moved away from both of the Pokémon, and she closed her eyes. “I’m scared of Dark-Types. I’ve met mean ones before.”

Something rubbed against her side, and Crystal opened an eye and looked down, only to meet Mike’s eyes again as he pressed himself against Crystal.

“I’m gonna be your first nice one, then,” Mike said in a determined sort of tone. “I promise.”

Crystal blinked a couple times at that, looking uncertain at Mike’s statement, but something about the way the Pokémon was looking at her – a determined frown, not an angry one – made her wonder about the Poocheyna.

“I hope so,” she murmured quietly.

**Space Break**

Gold weighed the Ball in his hands, considering the Pokémon that was waiting inside it to be let out.

“Are you really sure that you want to do this?” Ethan leaned forward a little on his perch on Gold’s left shoulder, digging his paws into Gold’s jacket as he looked at the Ball with an apprehensive expression. “I mean, the last time you let her out—“

“That was when we were with them,” Gold replied. “It’s been…a while, so maybe she’ll listen.” He looked over at Kal and Strike – the latter now a larger, yellow and blue Pokémon that he remembered Watson calling a Manectric. “Are you guys ready?”

Strike nodded. “Yeah.”

“What sort of Pokémon do you have in there, Gold?” Kal inquired.

“My biological mom.”

Gold let the Ball sit in his hands for a moment longer, then tossed it forward, releasing a great flash of light.


	62. Mt. Pyre: Infiltration

They broke out of the tall grass sometime in the late afternoon, and Crystal could smell salt on the air.

Mike, who had chosen to stay next to Richie after their break at lunch, sneezed. “What’s that smell?”

“The sea,” Crystal murmured in reply. She pulled out her PokeNav and activated the map feature. “It looks like Lilycove is close to the coast – we should start seeing the sea soon.” She looked back at her team and shot them a wide grin. “Come on! We’ve got to be close!”

Crystal started moving more quickly through the grass, her Pokémon keeping up easily – except for Mike, who was placed on Latios’ back by Richie in order to make sure that the Poocheyna wouldn’t be left behind. Considering that the little Pokémon had only hatched a few hours ago, he had already started growing and learning quickly, reaching Level 6 by only watching the battles that Crystal and her team got themselves into. The fact that he hadn’t learned any damaging moves yet was the only consolation for this in Crystal’s mind, but something in her was starting to like the little Poocheyna – despite his Typing.

Not that she was going to admit it anytime soon.

“Hey! Let me go, you stupid bed sheets!”

“Hahahahahahaha! Bed sheets! You’ll have to do better than that if you’re going to want us to go away!”

Crystal turned her head as they broke through a patch of grass, catching sight of a white, stone pier that stuck out into the sea. On top of it was a blue Pokémon with long ears and white spots on her belly – an Azumaril – fighting five Pokémon that looked like small, gray sheets that kept fading in and out of sight. Two of them were already pulling at the Azumaril’s arms, keeping her from fighting back as the other three swooped in and struck out with a power that looked eerie.

“Ghost-Types!” Crystal exclaimed, surprised. She frowned a moment later. “Come on, guys! We’ve got to help that Azumaril!”

Crystal moved ahead of her team as she started to pool together some of her psychic power. She thrust her hands forward as she came to a stop a few feet away from the scuffle. “Psyshock!”

The resulting blast of energy pellets rammed into a number of the Ghost-Types, catching them by surprise and throwing them away from the Azumaril, who collapsed to the ground as soon as she was let go.

“Aah! A human who can use Pokémon attacks?!” one of the Ghost-Types looked at Crystal in surprise as her team came to a stop behind her. “How is that possible?!”

“She’s probably that human the ones on Mt. Pyre were talking about!” another one of the ghosts responded. “I wouldn’t get to close – I’ve heard that she can grab Ghost-Types with her bare hands and wring their necks!”

“Run away!” the rest of the Ghost-Types yelled as one. Then they scattered, flying in all directions – into the grass, over the water – while cackling as they faded from sight.

“You’re not scared of them!” Richie stared at Crystal in amazement.

“Because I haven’t had bad run-ins with them.” Crystal looked back at her team with a smirk. “I actually made friends with a Gengar a few years back; nice guy, but he can be a bit moody if he hasn’t pranked anyone in a while. They’re overall rather harmless when they aren’t being backed into a corner.” She turned to look back at the blue Pokémon and moved over quickly, helping the Azumaril to her feet. “Are you doing all right?”

Crystal’s team exchanged looks at that, like they hadn’t quite been expecting the answer that she had given them.

“I’m fine.” The Azumaril pulled herself out of Crystal’s grip and gave her a scowl. “I could have handled them.” She turned towards the water and took a step forward before wincing and falling on her face.

“You’re clearly not fine.” Crystal rushed over and lifted the Azumaril up to her feet again. “We need to get you to the Pokémon Center.”

The Azumaril grumbled something, but she didn’t look like she was going to try to run away from Crystal now.

 _“I can carry her.”_ Latios moved over and lowered himself closer to the ground; Mike jumped off and turned to watch, cocking his head to one side.

“Telekinesis,” Crystal murmured under her breath, lifting the Azumaril up with her psychic power onto Latios’ back. She turned and looked down the route. “I can see Lilycove from here; it shouldn’t take us too long to get there.”

“Let’s go, then!” Mike yipped.

The maze of blue fences that followed almost made Crystal feel nostalgic for Kanto, were it not for the Pokémon and the Trainers. They did take challenges, but Crystal made sure to take care of them as quickly as possible – which meant that she was switching around the team as much as possible in order to find moves that could take out her opponents as quickly as possible. If Mike gained a level or two in the chaos to get to the Pokémon Center, Crystal didn’t really notice.

As soon as they got to town, Crystal made a beeline for the Pokémon Center – leading her entire team inside, including Latios, who dropped his illusion and revealed himself as soon as they were inside the building.

“Oh, my!” Nurse Joy quickly moved around the counter and towards Crystal.

“We found the Azumaril on Latios being attacked by some Ghost-Types.” Crystal motioned to Latios, who moved so that Nurse Joy could get a closer look at the Pokémon on his back.

Nurse Joy hesitated for a moment when she saw the Legendary, then frowned when she saw the Pokémon on his back. “Amy! This has to be the second time this week! You’re lucky this Trainer came along when she did.”

The Azumaril – Amy – grumbled something under her breath that Crystal didn’t catch made Latios turn his head and frown in disapproval at her.

“This Pokémon has been in here before?” Crystal asked in surprise.

“Oh, yes.” Nurse Joy looked over at Crystal. “Amy was released into the local area by a Trainer who either didn’t want to or couldn’t continue to train her; I’m not sure of the specifics. She’s been getting herself into regular skirmishes with the Shuppet and other Pokémon in the area ever since, purposefully taking on five or more at once. Trainers have tried catching her, but she’s avoided them every time. It’s a wonder that you were able to bring her in at all.”

“Really?” Crystal looked over at Amy, who sent a glowering look back in response. “Why are you doing that? Is it because of something your last Trainer did?”

“Why I’m doing what I’m doing is none of your business,” Amy snapped in reply. “I don’t care if your some human-Pokémon hybrid, you’re not catching me, either. Not unless you think you can prove yourself as a decent person.”

Crystal blinked in surprise at that, but before she could respond to the Azumaril’s outburst, someone burst through the main doors – a young man with a large backpack on his shoulders.

“Something’s going on on top of Mt. Pyre!” the man exclaimed. “The Ghost-Types over there are going _nuts!_ ”

Crystal turned sharply at that, looking at the man in confusion. “What? Mt. Pyre? Where’s that?”

“It’s the big mountain out in the bay! You can’t miss it!”

“Outta my way!”

Amy suddenly leapt off Latios’ back and ran for the doors, barreling past the man and out into the open air.

Crystal stared after the Azumaril. “She couldn’t even take a step a moment ago!”

 _“I do know the move Heal Pulse,”_ Latios admitted, startling Nurse Joy. _“I was using it as we came here, in order to make the work the humans do here a little easier. Perhaps Heal Pulse did its job too well.”_

“She didn’t look like she was going to move until he came in with the news about Mt. Pyre.” Nurse Joy nodded to the backpacker, who was staring at Latios with wide eyes. “What else is happening over there? Are the Trainers who are in the mountain getting out?”

“Not that I’ve seen.” The backpacker shook his head. “All I can see is a large cloud of Ghost-Types hanging over the place – the largest cloud that I’ve ever seen.”

“Sounds like something’s going on over there.” Crystal shot her team a meaningful look. “We should go over there and check it out.”

Her Pokémon nodded in agreement.

“Are you sure that’s a wise idea?” Nurse Joy asked. “Ghost-Types can be very dangerous, and it certainly sounds like they’ve been provoked.”

“I know how to handle Ghost-Types; don’t worry.” Crystal turned to face Nurse Joy, a determined expression on her face. “I’ve gone up Lavender Town’s Pokémon Tower a few times; I know a few things that could help them calm down.”

Nurse Joy blinked at that. “The Pokémon Tower? You’re from Kanto?”

Crystal nodded.

The woman hesitated for a moment, then sighed and nodded. “Well…all right. Mt. Pyre is similar to the Pokémon Tower, but it’s different as well. The Ghost-Types there aren’t part Poison, so if you’re planning on using Psychic attacks to stop them, that’s not going to do as much damage.” She looked at Latios and Gallade as she spoke.

“We’ll figure something out,” Crystal responded quickly. She turned to look at her team again. “Come on, guys – let’s get back out to that pier! We have to catch up with Amy!”

The team barreled back to the pier that they’d seen Amy at before, Crystal leading the way and almost flying in order to increase her speed in getting there. This got her quite a number of wide-eyed stares from the Trainers who had challenged her when she had been going to Lilycove, but at this point Crystal was caring far less about keeping her powers hidden than she probably should have been.

Still, they arrived at the pier without any incident…just as Amy dove into the water and started swimming out to the mountain that was out in the water.

Crystal came skidding to a stop at the edge of the pier, watching Amy as she started swimming around the mountain and disappeared from sight. Then her gaze moved up, and she caught sight of what looked like a swarm of dark specs flying around the mountain’s peak, high above them.

“There’s definitely something going on inside the mountain.” Crystal frowned. “But we’re going to need to get across the water somehow if we’re going to be able to get in there.”

“Couldn’t you fly?” Samuel asked.

“I could, but I don’t know how far I’d have to go in order to find a place to land and start climbing.” Crystal frowned in frustration.

_“I can fly you over there, you know.”_

Crystal turned at Latios’ comment, looking at the Legendary in surprise. “R-really?”

_“Well, yes. I am, after all, a Pokémon that is well-known for flying all over the world on a regular basis. I won’t be able to carry everyone at once, however.”_

Crystal nodded. “Right.” She quickly returned her team to her PokeBalls and waited patiently as Latios lowered himself a little so that she could climb on.

_“Hold on!”_

With that as Crystal’s only warning, Latios shot off the pier and towards the mountain.

“Whoa!” Crystal leaned over quickly and wrapped her arms around Latios’ neck.

_“It seems we’ve caught the attention of the locals.”_

Crystal looked up at Latios’ comment, blinking rapidly against the wind blowing against her face. Her eyes widened a moment later when she saw some of the gray shapes flying around the mountain break off and come towards them. “Uh oh!”

 _“Don’t worry; I have experience with avoiding attacks like this. Besides, I doubt that they will be able to catch up with me.”_ Latios sounded confident – almost smug, even – as he started to gather the strength he needed.

The following burst of speed left the Ghost-Types far behind as Latios swung around Mt. Pyre.

“There!” Crystal attempted to point towards a cave opening on the side of the mountain. “Amy must’ve gone in that way!”

 _“I should assume so! Be prepared for a quick stop!”_ Latios quickly shifted his flight, turning sharply before flying towards the cave as more Ghost-Types came down towards them. They didn’t catch the Legendary, however, as Latios disappeared into the mountain with Crystal in tow.

Latios came to a short stop just inside the cave entrance, causing Crystal to jolt in place and tighten her grip on the Pokémon’s neck for a moment in order to prevent herself from flying off. Then she relaxed her grip and looked up, casting her eyes in all directions to take in their surroundings.

“This looks like the inside of the Pokémon Tower,” Crystal murmured as she slipped off Latios’ back, eyeing the gravestones in surprise. She paused. “Although, I guess that makes sense, if this place is called Mt. _Pyre_ and there are Ghost-Types all over the place.”

_“Indeed. We will need to tread lightly here – it’s obvious that something about this place has been disturbed.”_

Crystal nodded in agreement as she released each of her Pokémon from their Balls. “Okay guys, we’re inside Mt. Pyre. We’re going to have to be careful – something’s disturbed the Ghost-Types living here, which could mean that something’s disturbing graves or something else that’s highly sacred to this place. Samuel, your Fighting-Type attacks are going to do no good against these guys – Fighting and Normal moves aren’t able to connect with Ghost-Types under normal circumstances.”

“Seriously?” Samuel groaned. “Well, _that’s_ just great.”

“Hopefully we won’t have to fight any Ghost-Types, but if we are backed into a corner, use your Grass-Type moves instead.”

“But I’ve only got Mega Drain!” Samuel groaned again. “I need to learn more moves….”

“Maybe later.” Crystal looked around the cave room again, frowning. “I don’t see any Ghost-Types down here right now…and I don’t see any Trainers, either.” She turned and faced the stairs that were at the back of the room. “They’re probably all higher up and deeper into the mountain. Come on.”

Crystal strode over to the stairs, her team following after her. Mike trotted at the back of the group, a worried look on his face.

“Do you think I can help?” Mike asked, looking up at Richie.

Richie looked down at the Poocheyna and considered the question. “Well, we’ll have to see. I mean, this is the first time that Crystal’s worked with a Dark-Type. If you want to help, I’ll be there to back you up.” The Gallade gave a thumbs-up.

Mike’s eyes widened at that, and he grinned back. “Thanks, Richie!”


	63. Mt. Pyre: Interior

The second floor of the inside of the mountain was definitely what Crystal had been expecting: ghosts and Trainers.

However, the fact that half of the Trainers looked like they were dressed up and ready for a day of training in a dojo instead of a day of prayer and mourning over the loss of a Pokémon was definitely unusual.

“Um….” Crystal frowned as she stood at the top of the stairs.

The six Trainers that were on the floor turned and looked in her direction, their eyes widening to various degrees of surprise when they caught sight of Crystal and the six Pokémon that were standing with her.

“I thought those Ghost-Types were keeping everyone from getting in!” one of the Trainers in dojo grab hissed at a girl in a dark purple robe with a tall, pointed hat.

“They are!” the girl replied. “She must have found a way to avoid their Curses and Teleports somehow, but there’s no way that—“

“She has a Latios with her! That’s the Crystal girl we were warned about!” exclaimed another girl in purple robes. She threw out two PokeBalls. “Duskull, Dusclops – get them!”

The two Pokémon that came out of the PokeBalls were clearly Ghost-Types, considering that one was levitating and had a skull on the front of its face, and the other’s hands weren’t connected to its body and it didn’t seem to be entirely corporeal.

“Richie, Magical Leaf! Latios, Dragon Breath!” Crystal ordered quickly, dropping her illusion and revealing her ears and tail. “We don’t know what these guys’ll do if you come into physical contact with them, and I’d rather not risk finding out the hard way.”

 _“Understood.”_ Latios reared back and fired his attack at the larger of the two Ghost-Types while Richie threw his own at the smaller one.

The two Ghost-Types shifted back as the attacks hit their mark, slashing through or burning their intended targets. The Pokémon stumbled and attempted to retaliate with Ghost-Type attacks of their own, but they were quickly downed again by another round of attacks before they could even attempt to let loose.

The girl stumbled back as the two Pokémon collapsed, looking startled and uneasy at having had her Pokémon be defeated so quickly. “A-ah—“

The young man in the karate uniform grabbed a PokeBall and released the Pokémon inside. “Machoke, go! Take care of these—“

“Psycho Cut!” Richie swung his arm, hitting the Kanto Fighting-Type and sending him flying into a nearby wall, causing the young man’s jaw to drop in shock.

“Fighting-Types and Ghost-Types.” Crystal frowned, thinking back on what Leaf had said. “That means that Platinum and Pearl are here. Let’s go find them and take care of these guys!”

There came a number of cries from Crystal’s Pokémon in response to her own, making the Magnus grunts on the floor with them suddenly look more than a little nervous.

One of the three Fighting-Type grunts shook his head and gained a determined glare. “We can’t just let her through! Throw at them everything we’ve got!” He grabbed two PokeBalls off his belt and threw them out, releasing two more Machoke. “We have to stall them as much as possible while Pearl and Platinum make their way to the top of the mountain! Go!”

The two Machoke ran forward as the other Magnus grunts started releasing their own Pokémon, bringing out gas-like Ghost-Types with too-wide grins and Fighting-Types carrying planks of wood and steel bars.

Richie ran forward to meet the Machoke, swinging his arms to create Psycho Cuts as Crystal and the rest of the team scattered in order to do something about the other Pokémon that had suddenly appeared.

“Ghastly and Haunter are part Poison; they’re weak to Psychic attacks!” Crystal called as she moved towards two of the gas ball-like Pokémon. She focused, and a Psychic blast hit both of them, causing them to start to float to the floor as their Trainer returned them. “So are the Fighting-Types! Just don’t use Normal-Type attacks and you can take them down easily!”

“We’ll see how easy we are after you try to take on some of our other Pokémon!” one of the girls in the purple robes called back. She let out a cackle. “We have some Pokémon that don’t even have weaknesses!”

“All Pokémon have weaknesses!” Crystal called back. “You probably haven’t found the Type that represents that weakness yet!” She caught sight of a Haunter out of the corner of her eye and lashed out with another Psychic, catching the Ghost-Type by surprise and causing it to flail around in the air as it collapsed.

“Take this!”

Crystal turned in surprise when she heard the barking cry from Mike as he lunged at a Ghastly. Instantly the two Pokémon disappeared into a cloud of gray smoke as the sound of fighting came from within it. A moment later, the Ghastly was thrown out of the cloud, revealing Mike standing proud and as tall as he could while the Ghost-Type collided with a gravestone and collapsed.

That Poocheyna knows Play Rough!” a Fighting-Type Magnus grunt identified in surprise. “But…but they don’t learn that move!”

“I heard that one of Black’s Mighteyna mated with one of Lady Serena’s Fairy-Types!” one of the Ghost-Type Magnus grunts called back.

“He had the Egg disposed of, didn’t he?”

“Yeah! He knew a move was going to get passed down that he didn’t want, so he had Alpha’s Pet get rid of it. The Mewthree must have found it!”

Crystal stiffened at that as Mike looked over at the Magnus grunts with a confused expression that quickly turned to one of alarm. “The Egg that was left on Jagged Pass…you don’t mean—“

“She _did_ find it!” one of the Fighting-Type grunts confirmed in surprise. “Black is going to be so mad when he finds out about this!”

“Unless he never does.” A Ghost-Type Magnus grunt grinned a too-wide grin that almost made her look like she was possessed by one of the now-fainted Haunters. “We can get rid of the Pokémon before the Mewthree ever reaches Black, and no one would be the wiser.” She started towards the little Dark-Type, who was trying to lunge at another Ghastly, but it kept hovering just out of reach.

Crystal stared in alarm as the Magnus grunt started to get closer to the one Dark-Type that she had ever let onto her team. She felt conflicted – while yes, she was scared to death of Dark-Types and could probably take care of Team Magnus well enough without one, she also knew that this Pokémon was young, innocent, and had appeared to be genuinely concerned about her when they had been traveling from Fortree to Lilycove.

Dark-Types had never done that for her before – the Houndoom that had attacked her when she had been escaping from Team Rocket, the Mighteyna that Leaf had brought out in the Weather Institute….

_Maybe…._

Crystal shook her head and lunged at the Magnus grunt as Mike finally managed to sink his teeth into the Ghastly he’d been leaping for and pulled it into another Play Rough fight cloud. She grabbed the girl’s shoulders and swung her around so that her back hit a gravestone, Crystal standing in front of her and glaring her down.

“You’re not touching my team,” Crystal said. “I may have had bad experience with Dark-Types in the past, but there’s something about this one that makes me want to give him a chance. You’re not taking him off my team.”

The fight cloud disappeared, revealing Mike gnawing at the Ghastly’s more solid, but still gas-like core as it lay on the ground beneath him, out cold.

The girl that Crystal had pinned against the gravestone looked between Mike – who looked over at them with an expression of confusion – and Crystal, who still had the determined expression on her face. “Y-you’re serious? You’re keeping the mutt? He probably can’t even learn Dark-Type moves properly!”

“If that’s the case, then that’s something I’m more than happy to live with,” Crystal replied. “Besides, Pokémon aren’t confined to learning attacks that just coincide with their Type.”

The girl looked confused at that, and when Crystal let her go, she quickly returned her knocked out Pokémon and bolted down the stairs and towards the cave that led out of the mountain. The other Magnus grunts followed after her, various looks of unease on their own faces at the thorough clobbering their teams had just received from Crystal’s team.

Crystal watched the Magnus grunts run for a moment before she turned to face the stairs that were ahead of them. “There’s probably more up ahead. Are you guys ready to take them on?”

“Ready.” Richie nodded, a determined smirk crossing his face. Samuel mimicked his expression a moment later.

Trisha buzzed. “They aren’t going to know what hit them.”

Mike bounded over to the others, a frown on his face. He stopped in front of Crystal and looked up, cocking his head to one side. “I didn’t know you could fight, too.”

Crystal looked down at the little Pokémon, blinking in surprise at the comment. She frowned. “Well, I don’t like to do it in front of people very much. These people, though, I don’t really have a choice about.” She started for the stairs that led up to the next floor.

“Why?” Mike trotted after Crystal, remaining a little behind her as the rest of the team followed after them.

“Because what they’re doing is causing me to fight back, and I don’t want to rely on just my team in order to defeat them. If I can fight, then it shouldn’t have to be all on your shoulders.” Crystal’s voice didn’t do very well in hiding her impatient tone; she wanted to get to Pearl and Platinum, meet them, and find out what exactly it was that they were up to on Mt. Pyre before they could succeed in whatever it was that they were planning.

A place like this didn’t deserve to be disturbed by people like them.

The next floor had much the same as the previous one – more Magnus grunts with Ghost and Fighting-Type Pokémon.

Only, this time, there were two other doorways leading out of the room, and one of them led outside. And standing in that cave exit was a certain Water Rabbit Pokémon.

Crystal’s eyes widened at the sight of the Azumaril – Amy, she remembered – standing and glaring around the room from the cave exit, clearly looking put-off. One of the sheet-like Ghosts floating around the room tried to get near her, but it only received a Bubblebeam to the face and retreated back a short distance, wavering in the air and soaking wet. It tried to stay in the air, but then it received another blast to the back and collapsed to the ground near two other knocked out, soaked Ghost-Types.

“I’m not letting any more of you go up there,” Amy muttered, glaring around the floor. She caught sight of Crystal staring at her in surprise, but quickly moved her gaze away in favor of staring down the Ghost-Type and Fighting-Type Magnus grunts who were glaring at the Azumaril, clearly annoyed.

“This is annoying.” A girl wearing purple and black robes and a pointed purple hat with pink swirls sighed and put her hands on her hips, frowning at the Azumaril. “That Pokémon’s a bit too strong for us to be able to make it move, and we need to get up the mountain if we are to assist in keeping the Ghost-Types away from Platinum and Pearl.”

That was news to Crystal, who blinked in surprise.

“Yes, it is annoying,” agreed the young man standing next to her. He was wearing an outfit similar to the other Fighting-Type Magnus grunts, except that his entire uniform was black rather than white. “It’s even more annoying that we aren’t able to do anything against the Ghost-Types that are already causing us issues.”

Crystal looked around at her team – apparently, the Magnus grunts hadn’t noticed them yet, despite the fact that they had caused quite a bit of a ruckus on the floor below. The Magnus grunts did have their Pokémon out, however – Ghastly, Haunter, Duskull, Dusclops, Machoke, the strange Fighting-Types that Crystal hadn’t seen before with the wood planks and iron bars, and two twitchy-looking Pokémon with gems in their backs that Crystal suspected were Ghost and Rock-Types.

“You guys ready?” Crystal asked under her breath, looking around at her team. She was met with a number of nods in response. “All right.” She returned her attention to the rest of the room and yelled, “Hey! What do you think you’re doing up here?!”

The Magnus Trainers turned in surprise when they heard Crystal’s yell.

“This place is obviously a sacred resting ground to this region, and you’re defiling it by doing…whatever it is that your bosses are up to!” Crystal motioned to the gravestones as the floating sheet Ghost-Types exchanged looks. “You should get out of here before something worse than me and an Azumaril decides to step up and kick you out of here.”

The two Magnus Trainers who stood out from the rest stared at Crystal for a moment before they burst out laughing. The other four Magnus Trainers – three Fighting-Type grunts and one Ghost-Type grunt – quickly followed suit.

“Do you really think that you’re going to be able to scare us with that?” The Ghost-Type Magnus Trainer’s laugh sounded more like a cackle than anything else. “We live near the supernatural every single day! We’ve been made immune to any sort of effect any sort of Ghost-Type might have on us. If they attempt to ‘curse’ us in any way, it’ll simply slide right off, thanks to Lady Platinum’s good graces.”

“And Ghosts can do nothing to Fighting-Types,” the man in the black karate uniform added proudly. “Our hearts are too strong for anything they might attempt! We know no fear!” He let out a loud laugh, puffing out his chest and making himself seem slightly larger.

“People always have weaknesses,” Crystal replied. “And Ghosts are able to find them much more quickly than any other Pokémon Type I know.” She looked at her team. “Well, they’re not going to move. Might as well kick them out ourselves. Let’s get ‘em!”

The team scattered again as the Magnus grunts’ Pokémon reacted to Crystal’s cry, lunging towards them with battle cries of their own.

Richie and Crystal went after the Fighting-Types instantly, blasting them with Psychics and Psycho Cuts as the rest of the team followed after them – except for Latios and Mike, who decided to go after the Ghost-Types instead.

“Stop that Trainer!” the man in the black karate uniform ordered. “Timburr, Gurrdur – Low Sweep – “

“Your Pokémon are going to do no good against her,” interrupted the girl dressed like a witch as Crystal used Psychic on one of the Pokémon with the iron bars that was charging at her. “She’s using attacks that are strong against them! Sabeleye – take care of the girl and her pesky Gallade!”

Crystal saw the two twitchy Pokémon that she thought were Ghost and Rock-Types turn their heads at the girl’s order and start towards her quickly despite their twitchy movement.

Crystal took in a breath and started to gather a different sort of power before spitting out a couple rings of water in the Sabeleyes’ direction. “Water Pulse!”

The attacks hit the Pokémon head-on, but they only stumbled instead of collapsed – something that Crystal hadn’t been expecting.

She blinked in confusion, then frowned as she focused on her Aura instead. Maybe her Aura Sight could—

As soon as Crystal saw the dark auras of the two Pokémon, she let out a shriek. “Dark-Types!”

Richie turned his head sharply as a Dusclops fell in front of him, and his eyes widened as Crystal stumbled back and away from the two Sabeleye as they continued to move towards them. He quickly turned his attention towards the Sabeleye and threw a Magical Leaf at them, moving in front of Crystal in order to protect her as best he could.

The attack hit its mark, and the two Pokémon stumbled again, but they didn’t collapse.

“Guys? A little help!” Richie called over to the others. He threw another Magical Leaf as the Sabeleye climbed over a couple gravestones, but again, they weren’t stopped and hardly slowed down. “They’re Ghost and Dark-Types!”

The girl who had sent the Pokémon after them cackled. “You’re not going to be able to defeat them that way! These Pokémon have no weaknesses! The Ghost-Type cancels out any Fighting-Type attacks and weakens the Bug-Type ones, and the Dark-Type makes it resistant to anything that would be super-effective against Ghosts! My Sabeleye are completely and utterly—“

“ _Play Rough!”_

Crystal blinked, the dredges of the sounds of Houndoom howling at the back of her mind fading as Mike leapt forward right before the Sabeleye could have reached either her or Richie, pulling them both into fight cloud. She stared in surprise before shaking her head, recovering herself and moving closer to Richie as Mike snarled and the other two Pokémon screeched in pain.

The cloud of smoke disappeared, exposing the three Pokémon to the view of the others again, except something about one of them was…a little different.

Crystal’s heart started pounding more quickly as she remembered what had happened back in the Weather Institute, and the glare she’d received when Leaf had brought out her Pokémon.

“I guess they’re weak to Fairy-Type moves,” Mike remarked, standing over the two fainted Sabeleye with a surprised expression. He turned his now larger head to look back at Crystal and Richie. “Are you okay?”

Crystal blinked a couple times at the question as Richie nodded, looking Mike over with wide eyes. She moved her gaze from his larger, clawed feet back to his face, and saw the nervous, hopeful expression there that she’d seen on him when he had been a Poocheyna.

Crystal nodded shakily. “I-I’m okay.”

“ _What?!”_ The witch-like Trainer’s voice came out as a shriek. “How is that even possible?! My Sabeleye should not have been defeated so easily!”

“You did not account for the power of Fairy-Types,” Ando growled. He started towards the witch Magnus as Latios brought down the last Dusclops that was still standing. The witch Magnus flinched back in surprise when she heard him speak in English, then turned and fled behind the karate Magnus, who looked just as startled, but held his ground.

“A talking Pokémon,” the karate Magnus grunted. “Of course the Mewthree would have something like this.”

“My name is Crystal!” Crystal frowned. “I’ve run into enough of you; you should know by now that I have a _name,_ and I’m not someone who _can_ be referred to by just her species!”

Mike growled at the Magnus members, punctuating Crystal’s point and sending a slight shudder up her spine. She shook her head and forced herself to ignore the rising fear, reminding herself that the Mighteyna was on _her_ side, not her opponent’s.

 _This is going to take a lot more getting used to than when I just thought that he was going to stay a Poocheyna for longer._ Crystal swallowed at the thought.

The karate Magnus sneered at Crystal, but another growl from Mike and an added snarl from Ando kept him from responding to Crystal’s statement.

Crystal stepped around Richie and paused for a moment behind Mike before steeling herself and moving around the Dark-Type towards the Magnus Trainers. She focused on the two Trainers who seemed to be in charge – the man in the black karate uniform, and the girl in the more elaborate witch costume – and spread out her mental consciousness.

She was instantly hit with a fuzzy wall of memories that weren’t quite distinct, and her eyes widened sharply.

“Hypnosis,” Crystal muttered under her breath. Her gaze hardened, and she lunged forward suddenly, slamming her palms into the two Magnus Trainers’ foreheads, causing them to momentarily flare with psychic energy.

The Magnus Trainers’ eyes rolled to the back of their heads, and they collapsed at once.

The other Magnus Trainers – the Ghost grunt and the three Fighting grunts – exchanged nervous looks at the sight before they scrambled out and down the stairs, like the grunts that Crystal and the others had defeated on the floor below.

“Why did you do that?” Mike moved to stand next to Crystal, startling her at his sudden presence next to her. “You don’t attack Trainers, do you?”

“N-not normally, no.” Crystal shook her head. “These two, though…they were under a Hypnosis. I just broke it.”

“Hypnosis?” Richie sounded surprised. “You mean like that ninja guy we found in the Petalburg Woods?”

“Yeah, exactly.” Crystal looked back at the Gallade and nodded. “The same thing must have happened to them.” She looked back at the two knocked-down Magnus Trainers as they started to stir, groaning.

“Uh…what happened?” the karate Trainer sat up, rubbing his head, then looked down and froze. “And what am I _wearing?_ ”

“This isn’t my normal outfit.” The girl frowned at the witch robes she was wearing. “Although I do like the colors….” She looked around, and her eyes widened. “Oh! We’re in Mt. Pyre! But not where I usually hang out…I like the silence of the highest level…and the shrine outside….”

“Mt. Pyre?” the karate Trainer repeated in alarm, his bright eyes widening. “I was supposed to be going to Dewford to train with Brawly! How did I end up _here?!”_

“Maybe I can answer that?” Crystal asked, raising a hand.

The two Trainers turned their heads upon hearing her voice, and their eyes widened when they caught sight of Crystal – or, more accurately, her twitching ears and tail.

“Whoa!” the karate Trainer quickly scrambled to his feet, black hair spiking out in all directions and clearly mussed up from his fall. “What – who – wait, you’re Crystal! I’ve seen you around Saffron!” He frowned. “But where did you get the ears and tail from…?”

“Cool!” the girl burst out. “Are you half Pokémon or something? I’ve never met someone like that before! Is there like a community of you hiding out somewhere or—“

“No, there isn’t.” Crystal shook her head, cutting the girl off. “And yes, I am half Pokémon – half Mew.”

“Moltres’ tailfeathers…” the karate Trainer murmured in shock.

“Look, I don’t have time to explain everything now – there’s a group here called Team Magnus, and they’re after something at the top of Mt. Pyre.” Crystal pointed upward. “I’ve got to get up there and make sure that they’re not going to do anything to this place that may set the Ghost-Types even more on edge than they already are.”

The girl’s eyes widened sharply at that. “The shrine! Oh no!”

“What is it?” the karate Trainer turned to look at the girl in confusion.

“There’s a shrine outside, at the very peak of Mt. Pyre. There are some old relics up there from an ancient war between the Legendaries…” The girl bit her lower lip nervously. “If they’re planning on taking _those,_ that’s going to spell trouble.”

“War between –“ Crystal shook her head. “I need to get up there.”

The girl looked around for a moment, then spotted Amy, who had remained standing resolutely at the cave that led out of the room. “You have to go out through that cave and work your way up. I keep my Pokémon on one of the upper floors, so I’ll go up and get them, then follow you out.”

Trisha flew a little closer to Amy, who eyed the Vibrava with a dark expression. “Are you going to let us by?”

The Azumaril’s expression darkened for a moment, and then she let out a huff and stepped aside. “All right, fine. But I’m coming with you.”

Crystal nodded to Amy. “We’re going to need all the help that we can get. She looked over at the other Trainers. “Do what you can to drive out any Magnus Trainers that might be inside yet, if you can. Something tells me the people on top of the mountain are going to have Ghost and Fighting-Type abilities themselves.”

“You mean, like how you’re a Mew?” the karate Trainer asked.

Crystal nodded. “This isn’t a natural combination; someone _made_ a number of Trainers in Magnus to be both human and Pokémon. They took the data from when I was made and used it.”

The two Trainers’ eyes widened at that, while Mike looked alarmed.

The karate Trainer recovered first, gaining a determined expression and nodding. “We’ll do everything we can to take care of these guys. You do what you have to.”

Crystal nodded in response, then turned to look at each of her teammates in turn before running out of the cave and into the late afternoon sunlight, her Pokémon right behind her.


	64. Mt. Pyre: The Shrine

The wind whipped around Crystal as she came to a stop before she could run herself off the edge of the cliff. She backed up quickly, nearly running into her Pokémon before they managed to reverse themselves and spread out against the cliff wall behind them.

Amy snorted as she moved ahead of them. “You’ve never come out on the side of a mountain before, have you?”

“I wasn’t expecting it to be quite this narrow,” Crystal muttered, thinking that mentioning Mt. Mortar in Jhoto might only get her some odd looks from the Azumaril at this point. She doubted that the Water Rabbit Pokémon had ever been outside of Hoenn at this point. “Do you know your way around this mountain?”

“I do. Make sure you keep up.” Amy started along the cliff and toward a staircase that was carved into the mountainside. Crystal and her team followed after her.

“So, half-Pokémon, huh? What kind of human brought you into the world?” Amy asked as they started working their way up the stairs.

Crystal winced a little at the question. “I-I don’t really think it was just one person, but a team of them. One of them realized his mistake and got me away, but the real cause of me being around was…Team Rocket, the group in Kanto that was taken down a number of years ago.”

Amy grunted. “I thought it was just that Mewtwo monster they made – the one that all the Trainers who want to become Champions are planning on challenging.”

“Mythos is my brother, and…he’s the only one that we really wanted the world to know about. Before all this happened, I was content to let my powers stay secret from most of the world.” Crystal’s ears flicked back as she thought back to everything that she’d done so far in the region – including every single time she was forced to reveal who and what she really was to Trainers that she considered to be possibly allies…and definitely enemies.

“Uh huh.”

Crystal wasn’t exactly sure what Amy meant by that response – whether she doubted what Crystal had said or wasn’t interested – so she said nothing to continue the conversation.

As soon as they reached the top of the stairs and started towards another set, Crystal noticed rustling in some of the taller, rougher patches of grass that were closer to the cliffs. Six red tails rose up from one of the areas, followed by the equally red-furred head of a Pokémon, who watched the group approach with her ears pricked.

“Amy? Are you here to help?” the little Pokémon asked, cocking her head.

Amy stopped looked over at the Vulpix and nodded while Crystal and the others stopped as well. “Yeah. See any humans messing around in things they shouldn’t be?”

“Uh huh. They’re causing a real ruckus and making a lot of the older Ghost-Types mad.” The Vulpix crouched down a little in the grass. “Mama’s gone inside to see if there’s anything she can do to help Kara’s Pokémon.”

Amy nodded. “Good. You stay hidden; we’ll take care of the humans up there.” She nodded higher up the mountain, towards where the Ghost-Types were circling above their heads – a lot closer now than when they had been when Crystal and her team had arrived at the mountain’s entrance.

The Vulpix nodded, then looked over at Crystal with a curious expression before disappearing into the grass again.

“You know the Pokémon that live on this mountain?” Crystal asked as they reached the stairs that led up to the next-highest section of cliffs.

“Most of them.” Amy glanced back. “The Vulpix and Ninetales help comfort the Trainers who have lost their Pokémon, and they keep the Ghost-Types from bothering the innocent humans and let them prank the ones that aren’t quite so nice. This whole thing with the shrine has made it harder to get the Shuppet to listen, though.” The Azumaril scowled.

“Shuppet…the little Pokémon that looked like they’re wearing sheets?”

Amy gave a curt nod. “Yeah. Cheeky little things; they’ll only listen to Nina – the Ninetales. But that’s only because they know she can take them all on at once and knock them into the afterlife if she wanted to.”

“Sounds like a powerful Pokémon.” Crystal thought back to what she knew of Ninetales for a moment – how the wisest ones were said to have lived for a thousand years and gained Psychic abilities as a result. Some of them were even said to be able to take on human form, but Crystal doubted that was completely true.

She also had heard that grabbing one of their tails without permission and with force might result in you being cursed, but she knew that there was more to that rumor than most people might actually think.

“She is. Nina protects this entire island. To have these goons manage to get in and do this to her island really riles her up.” Amy paused at the top of the stairs. “If you want to meet with her, you’re going to come back to this place after she’s calmed down.”

Crystal nodded in agreement.

The cliff that they had just reached was far, far closer to the circling Ghost-Types, and now there was mist circling around their feet in foggy tendrils that almost gave the area an eerie feeling.

Crystal’s ears twitched, trying to catch what the Pokémon – Shuppets and Duskull – were saying to each other, but all she could really make out was “ _keep them off keep them off keep them off._ ”

“Are they trying to keep people from getting onto the mountain?” Crystal asked, eyeing the Pokémon above them with a nervous expression. “Because they were definitely doing that when we came here….”

“This is bad,” Amy muttered. She started to pick up speed – which, considering her naturally round body and short legs, actually said something. “If you want to help, try to keep up and be ready for a fight!”

Crystal quickly moved to keep pace with the Azumaril, her team following after her as they started moving past gravestones coated in fog, as well as more patches of grass. Crystal thought she saw more Vulpix standing in the patches of grass, but the fog was starting to become a little thicker in some areas, so it was hard to tell if there were Pokémon watching them at all.

“Hand it over, old hag! We don’t have all day!” barked a young man’s voice.

Crystal’s attention moved sharply from the fog around them to what was ahead of them at the sound of the demanding voice. Ahead, the fog was starting to clear, revealing circular pillars that rose up into the sky – a clear circle in the center of the Ghost-Types above their heads – and four figures standing in front of what looked like a small shrine of some kind.

Crystal’s attention moved quickly from the elderly couple standing off to the side, looking slightly beaten but still immoveable, to the younger pair standing across from them – a young man with blond hair stylized upward in a strange hairstyle, and a girl with blue-purple hair wearing what looked like a witch’s outfit even more extravagant than the one the other girl had been wearing inside Mt. Pyre.

Crystal took in a breath, silently steeling herself, then stopped at the bottom of the stairs that led up to the shrine itself.

“Hey!” Crystal barked as her team and Amy stopped around and in front of her. “You two are Pearl and Platinum, right?”

The boy and the girl turned when they heard Crystal’s voice, eyes widening as soon as they caught sight of her and the seven Pokémon who were with her.

The boy gained a frustrated expression and grabbed at his hair. “I _knew_ something was going on down there! I _warned_ you, Platinum!”

The girl – Platinum – waved off the boy’s words. “I know, Pearl. I wanted to see how well we’d do against the famed Crystal.” She gained a sly, crooked smile. “Looks like she is as powerful as we were told.”

Crystal looked between the two of them, remembering that Platinum had a Ghost-Type called Mismagius as her half, and Pearl had the Fighting-Type Meditite as his. She remembered that Brawly’s Medicham Tide had evolved from Meditite, so that meant that Pearl might have some Psychic-Type abilities, as well.

Pearl snorted. “She doesn’t look so tough.”

“Well, then, why don’t you take her?” Platinum motioned to Crystal in a careless manner, appearing disinterested in Crystal’s presence now. “I’ll take care of what we came for.”

Pearl stared at Platinum with an incredulous expression as she looked back at him with a calm one. Then he shook his head and gained a more determined expression and looked over at Crystal, slamming his fists together.

“You, me, one on one,” Pearl said. “And if your Pokémon want a fight, they have to fight my team.” He grabbed the PokeBalls that were attached to his waist and tossed them, releasing his Pokémon: a Machoke, another one of the Pokémon with the iron bars – Gurrdur, Crystal thought she’d heard it called – and a red and white Pokémon that Crystal remembered seeing and speaking with on Dewford Island – a Medicham.

Richie moved forward instantly, as did Samuel. Latios as about to join them, but Amy moved in front of the Legendary before he had the chance.

“The one with the club’s mine.” Amy nodded to the Gurdurr.

“I’ll take the Medicham.” Gallade shifted his stance.

“Which leaves me with the stupid face up there.” Samuel grinned up at the Machoke, who scowled back at him.

“We will see who’s face is stupid when I’m through with you,” the Machoke snarled.

“Let’s get ‘em!” Pearl barked. He charged forward, bringing back a fist before throwing it forward, coating it in fire.

Crystal moved to the side, barely avoiding the Fire Punch before throwing up a Barrier to stop his next one. She winced as the fist made contact with the nearly-invisible wall, causing it to ripple.

“Yeow!” Pearl pulled back, shaking his hand out. “Barriers aren’t supposed to do that!”

Crystal drew on her own power, sucking in a breath of air before spewing out a Flamethrower, forcing Pearl to dance back and barely avoid it as her Barrier came down.

 _“I’m different,”_ Crystal replied, focusing on her Psychic abilities next. _“Surely they’ve told you that. Psychic!”_

The attack hit Pearl head-on, causing him to stumble back a couple steps and grip his head.

“Ow! That’ve been even worse if I was all Fighting!” Pearl looked at Crystal with a wide grin that almost seemed bloodthirsty. “Not bad! I’d have thought that you weren’t going to fight back! Now I can go all out without regrets!”

 _“Are you sure that you want to do that?”_ Crystal frowned. She focused another Psychic again and sent it at Pearl, but he dodged it and lunged forward again, fists once again covered in fire. She threw up a Barrier, once again deflecting the attack with a dull _whump. “We aren’t fully Pokémon – and we aren’t as strong as them, either. Our human halves can’t handle taking damage too well!”_

“Ow!” Pearl danced back again, shaking his fists out. His knuckles looked red because of the force of the collision. “And how would you know that? You’re not letting me hit you!”

 _“Because Norman challenged me one on one to battle his Vigoroth and I took a punch to the gut and I’d rather not get that again?”_ Crystal replied sharply. _“Psychic!”_

Pearl’s eyes flashed suddenly, and he moved out of the way of the attack again, somehow avoiding the wave of Psychic energy that could have hit him in the face. “Detect.”

Crystal frowned. _“You won’t be able to keep that up forever.”_

“Eat this!”

Crystal turned her head at the sound of Samuel’s exclamation, and she caught sight of him throwing out a punch at the Machoke, glowing with green and orange energy. Any bruises and scrapes that were on the Breloom healed almost instantly, while the Machoke collapsed with a groan.

Samuel looked at his fist in surprise. “Huh. I was just going for Leech Seed and Mach Punch again…what was that?” He shook his head and grinned. “Doesn’t matter! I knocked you into next week! Ha!”

“Feint!” Richie slashed at the Medicham, causing a strange glow to leave the Pokémon’s eyes as the Fighting and Psychic-Type collapsed to the ground.

Amy exited the cloud of smoke that had erupted around her and the Gurrdur, revealing that the Fighting-Type had also collapsed. “That’s why you don’t mess with Fairy-Types, jerk.”

Crystal returned her attention to Pearl, who suddenly looked uneasy as his Pokémon were returned to their PokeBalls. She started to focus her power again. _“It’s just you and me now. Psyshock!”_

The physical blast of Psychic energy caught Pearl – who was startled to see his Pokémon defeated – by surprise and sent him blasting back into Platinum’s back, stunned, bond hair askew in such a way that Crystal could see what looked like the white, cap-like thing that was on top of a Meditite’s head underneath.

_A wig…?_

“Ow!” Platinum turned sharply, glaring down at Pearl disapprovingly as she held two glowing spheres in her hands – one red, one blue. “The only reason I’m letting you touch me is because I have to stay corporeal in order to hold onto these! Anyway, we’ve got what we came for, so let’s get –“

There was a bright flash of light, forcing Crystal and her team to shield their eyes from it. When the light faded, Pearl and Platinum were gone.

Crystal frowned worriedly at the place where the two Magnus Trainers had been standing. “Ando?”

“I sense Mew’s presence again, Mistress,” Ando confirmed. “The other Mewthree was here.”

There came a groan from the shrine, causing Crystal’s attention to move to the elderly couple that had been attempting to stop Pearl and Platinum moments before. She moved over to them quickly, the rest of her team following after her.

“Are you all right?” Crystal asked worriedly. The tip of her tail twitched in an agitated manner.

“We’ve had far worse done to us,” the man replied. He started to move to rise to his feet, and Crystal quickly lent a hand to assist him, then the woman. “Thank you for your concern, however.”

The woman looked at the now-empty shrine worriedly. “They’ve taken the Orbs…this isn’t good.”

“Orbs?” Crystal cocked her head. “You mean those red and blue spheres that Platinum had in her hands? What’s so important about them?”

“There is much that is important about them,” the man responded grimly. “They contain a destructive power unlike any that has ever been used in the world, and they should never be used again.”

“Haruka! Inu!”

Crystal turned her head when she heard the voice, and she saw the witch girl and the karate Trainer from before running over to them. There was a Gengar, a Dusclops, and a Ghost Pokémon that looked like it had a zipper for a mouth with them.

“Are you all—“ The witch girl’s voice cut off when she caught sight of the shrine. “Oh, no. So they did manage to get them.”

“Kara,” the woman – Haruka, Crystal guessed – Crystal said with relief. “We were worried when you did not return before.”

“I was…was pulled away by something.” Kara stopped at the stairs leading up to the shrine and bowed her head. “I’m sorry. It seems I was somehow involved in all this without being completely aware of myself. I was under a Hypnosis.”

“I was as well,” the karate Trainer added. “My name is Hiton. I am a Trainer from Kanto’s Fighting Dojo. I was coming here to train with Gym Leader Brawly on Dewford, but I was sidetracked somehow.”

The elderly couple nodded in greeting.

“If you were under Hypnosis, then what happened here was not entirely your fault,” Haruka said. “However, you are now brought into what will soon cause this region trouble, and must work in order to reverse the damage that you have caused, in order to prevent what could happen.”

“What do you mean?” Crystal turned to look over at the elderly couple. “You mentioned that there was a great power attached to these orbs. How great is it?”

“Very.” Inu looked grim. “Many, many centuries ago, two Legendary Pokémon were at war. They were called Kyogre and Groudon, creatures of the sea and the land. Each one thought that their part of the world was far better, and called on the rain to drown the land and the sun to dry the sea. The people of the world lived in fear, wondering if they were going to be able to live through to see the next sunrise.”

“Then another Pokémon came to the region,” Haruka continued. “A green Dragon came down from the skies and calmed the two fighting Legendary Pokémon, sending them into a deep sleep that they haven’t woken from since. The Pokémon also sealed away most of their powers, creating the Red and Blue Orbs that those two children took from this place. If they manage to find the two Legendaries and awaken them, returning their power to them, then there is a great chance that the war will begin anew, and tear Hoenn asunder.”

Crystal’s eyes widened as Inu and Haruka told their tale, turning pale. “And Platinum just…oh, no.” She paused. “Do we know where the Legendaries are sleeping?”

“As if anyone would go looking for them on purpose,” Kara huffed. “That would really bring on some _bad_ ambiance to the region. Those two Pokémon are too powerful for their own good.”

“Mewtwo is hidden away for a reason, too.” Hiton nodded. “And we’ve been told he can’t be caught, either. The Legendary birds in Kanto are even harder for a Trainer to get their hands on, since they only let Trainers that they think are worthy catch them.” He looked over at Crystal. “Red’s the only one who’s been able to do that, right?”

Crystal nodded. “Still, if Magnus is planning something with the Legendaries, then we’re going to need to know where they’re sleeping, too, so that we can do something about defending them before they’re woken up.”

“Hopefully, it won’t come to that,” Haruka murmured.

“Hey, you’re fighting these guys, right?” Kara turned to look at Crystal.

Crystal nodded. “I’m not alone, but I am the one who’s getting the most attention right now.”

“I want to help.” Kara clenched a fist. “I can’t let them get away with messing with my mind.”

“Or mine,” Hiton added.

The three Ghost Pokémon behind them cackled and nodded in agreement, grins a little two wide on the Gengar and other Pokémon that Crystal hadn’t identified yet.

“I’d appreciate all the help that I can get,” Crystal replied, nodding. “I’m guessing you want to go after Platinum?”

“Oh, yeah.” Kara gained a grin that matched her Pokémon’s.

“I shall take on this Pearl, as well,” Hiton added.

“You’ve got a PokeNav or something like that?” Kara pulled a PokeNav out from under her robes. “We are going to need to keep in touch, if we’re facing the same guys.”

Crystal nodded and dug her own PokeNav out of her backpack, then quickly exchanged numbers with Kara. “I don’t know what kind of Pokémon a Mismagius is, but that’s what Platinum is supposed to have in her. Pearl is part Meditite.”

“A Mismagius?” Kara repeated in surprise. She gained that wide grin again a moment later. “Well, _this_ is going to be interesting. Thanks for the tip! I’ll make sure to keep an eye out for her!”

“A Meditite?” Hiton repeated thoughtfully. “Interesting. Sparring with him should prove to be an excellent challenge.” He grinned.

“Be careful,” Haruka said worriedly. “These Magnus people…they seem powerful. I hope that you will not find yourself defeated just as the Legendaries are awakened.”

“You’re going to need more than just what you’ve got if you think that you’re going to stand a chance against these guys.”

Crystal turned when she heard Amy’s statement and frowned. “What do you mean? We’ve been able to do fine so far.”

“Well, yeah, but if each of these guys are a different Type, what’s gonna happen if you run into one that’s Dark-Type? Or Ghost-Type?” Amy put her paws where her hips probably were, frowning up at the Trainer.

Crystal winced, remembering what happened when Leaf had brought out her Mighteyna, and when the Sabeleye had been coming at her when they had still been inside Mt. Pyre.

“I can see that your mutt knows Play Rough, but it’s not gonna help if he doesn’t have the Type to back it up.” Amy pointed at herself. “I’m Water and Fairy, and I know Surf. If you think that you’re going to be able to get around undetected on that Latios, you’ve got another thing coming – they’re going to be _looking_ for that. You’re going to need me for stealth.”

Crystal blinked at that, looking surprised, before looking around at her team. “What do you guys think?”

“If she wants to help us, let her.” Samuel shrugged.

“We could use all the help we can get,” Richie admitted.

 _“Amy is right; I would be noticed if I carried you towards every location that Magnus was known to be at.”_ Latios nodded to the Azumaril. _“It might be wise to ally ourselves with her for as long as she wishes to help us.”_

Crystal cocked her head at that while Kara, Hiton, Haruka, and Inu exchanged somewhat confused expressions. After a moment, she nodded. “All right. Thanks for offering to help, Amy.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Amy snorted.

“You should probably leave Mt. Pyre,” Haruka spoke up gently. “The Pokémon here are going to be riled up for quite some time. They should let you leave, however.”

“Are you two going to be all right here?” Crystal asked.

“We’ve been living on this mountain for years,” Inu replied. “We won’t be disturbed by or do any harm to the Pokémon here; they know that. Go. Get the Orbs before Kyogre and Groudon can be reawakened.”

Crystal hesitated for a moment, then nodded and moved away from the shrine when Kara motioned for the Kanto Trainers to follow her down the mountain.


	65. Magnus Base Night Raid

“They have a _base_ in _Lilycove?!”_ Kara exclaimed in a hiss of excitement. “How do you know?”

“I managed to get the location out of another Magnus Trainer – a girl with a Bellossom half named Leaf,” Crystal explained. “I don’t know where it could be, though, since I don’t know my way around this city. Do you think you might be able to help?”

Kara bit her lower lip, frowning. “I don’t know if I can. My memories are extremely fuzzy right now, and they’re fading fast.” She sighed and shook her head. “All I know for certain is that I did _not_ like the ambience the place had.”

Crystal sighed. “Well, I don’t know how much of a help that’s going to be, but thanks for trying.”

“It’s the least I could do after you helped us out on Mt. Pyre.” Kara gave a cheery smile that seemed to have a more sinister tone to it underneath. “I should go work with my Pokémon to make sure that we’re ready for the next time someone tries to do what they did to me before.”

The Ghost Trainer stood up from the table that she, Crystal, and their teams had taken in the Pokémon Center’s cafeteria, then looked at her Gengar, Dusclops, and the third member of her team that she had introduced to Crystal as a “Banette.” Then she skipped out of the Center, the three Ghost-Types following after her.

Crystal sighed again and leaned back in her chair. “Well, we might as well go to bed and look for this base tomorrow. Maybe some of the people in town will know if something strange has been going on somewhere nearby.”

“If you think that talking to people is going to get you anywhere, you’re completely wrong,” Amy scoffed. She folded her arms across her chest and huffed. “And if you want to see if there’s anything strange around here, you can always check the cave that’s out by the coast.”

Crystal turned her head and looked at that Azumaril in surprise. “Cave out by the coast? Do you think that’s where they’re hiding?”

“Best place as any to hide from people.” Amy shrugged. “So? Do you want to go there now or wait until tomorrow, when they could have shipped out the orbs to who knows where?”

Crystal stiffened at that, and she instantly felt the eyes of the rest of the team lock on her. “It’s already pretty late in the day…but if there’s a chance we can catch them before they take the orbs who knows where, then we should take it.” She gave Amy a determined nod. “Let’s go.”

**Space Break**

“So, how are these things supposed to help, anyway?” Pearl frowned at the steel suitcase that contained the Red and Blue Orbs. “They just look like giant gems that the Alpha could have turned into jewelry or something.”

“You really weren’t listening in at the briefing, were you?” Platinum responded lazily as she walked past him. “We’re going to use them to wake up two Legendary Pokémon.”

“I still can’t believe we’re going to actually do this!” Ruby, who had been pacing in a circle across the room from them, stopped and grinned widely at the Ghost and Fighting duo. “We’re calling on Legendary Pokémon that no one’s seen in centuries! People probably don’t even believe that they exist anymore!” He paused, frowning. “I really hope that they do, or else this entire thing would just be a wild goose chase for nothing.”

There came a scoffing noise. “Oh, they’re real all right.”

Pearl, Platinum, and Ruby turned their heads at the sound of the voice, looking over at a hollow box made of hard, thick plastic. Slits were in the top of the box to let air in to the box’s sole occupant, who was sitting with her legs crossed in the center.

“They are?” Pearl frowned. “How do you know?”

“I’ve seen them.”

“You _have?!”_ Ruby’s voice broke – whether from excitement, surprise, or nervousness, it was hard to say.

“Don’t think that it’s going to be that easy to control them,” the occupant added, frowning. A pair of pink, cat-like ears twitched back. “Legendaries are powerful Pokémon, and when Kyogre and Groudon are awoken and given those Orbs, they are going to be even harder to control. People have tried before, and failed.”

“We won’t fail,” Platinum said pointedly, frowning. “We’re more powerful than normal humans; the Legendaries will listen to us.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure, with an attitude like that.” The box’s occupant winced suddenly, her gold collar almost seeming to flash for a moment. Then she was gone in a far brighter flash of her own.

Pearl huffed. “I don’t know why Alpha keeps her around. She’s such a killjoy.”

Platinum shot him an irritated look and was about to respond to that when a siren started going off.

Pearl groaned. “What _now?”_

“It’s probably that Mewthree again.” Platinum sighed. “I’d go ahead and stay to see how well she could handle my pranks, but it seems that we are needed elsewhere.”

“Mewth—you mean you’ve run into her too?!” Ruby asked in surprise. “Man, she’s all over the place!” He paused. “Who’s going to fight her, though? We’ve all gotta head back.”

“Let’s leave the non-mons to handle it.” Pearl made a careless waving motion. “I’m sure they can handle it.”

There was a bright flash next to the box, and the girl was back in the room. “Come on.”

**Space Break**

Crystal crouched low on Amy’s back as they slipped past a Magnus Trainer in a blue uniform who was directing three round, blue and white Water-Type Pokémon to leap about in the water in different formations. She moved her attention away from the Trainer and towards the cave that Amy was swimming towards.

 _“In there?”_ Crystal asked. She touched the belt at her waist, making sure that her team’s PokeBalls were still attached to her belt. She felt the air shift above her, causing her invisible ears to twitch as Latios continued to hover slowly above them.

“Yeah.” Amy’s voice came out partially muffled, since her mouth was nearly all the way underwater. “They hardly ever guard this entrance for some reason.”

 _“Well, that’s careless of them, but useful for us.”_ Crystal paused. _“I wonder if this is how Red felt when he snuck into the Rocket Base in Celadon….”_

One of Amy’s long ears flicked at Crystal’s comment as they moved into the cave entrance. “You know that guy?”

_“Yeah. Red’s a good friend of mine.”_

“Any idea where he disappeared off to?”

_“None. All I know is that he wanted to go train by himself for a while. I haven’t seen or heard from him for a few years.”_

Amy snorted. “Some friend.”

Crystal frowned at that as the cave started to widen, the darkness of the beginning night outside giving way to bright, industrial light that wasn’t supposed to be in a cave at all. _“Red can do what he wants, and besides, he’s a Champion in Kanto; I doubt that he’d be unable to handle whatever it is that he might end up running into.”_

Amy stopped at the end of the bay that was inside the cave, allowing Crystal to slip off the Azumaril’s back and onto a tiled floor. “Yeah, yeah. Sure. I’m gonna go see what I can do to damage this place. You go find those orbs.”

Crystal blinked in surprise at that, then nodded. “Stay safe, okay? Latios and Richie know how to use Heal Pulse, so if you start running out of energy, you can find us.”

Amy blinked at that, looking at Crystal with an odd expression before disappearing underwater and out of sight.

As soon as the Azumaril was gone, Crystal grabbed her five PokeBalls and released her team as Latios revealed himself. “Okay guys. We’re in, and we’re going to need to find those orbs before Team Magnus does who knows what with them.”

“Where’s Amy?” Richie looked around curiously.

“She’s going to be doing what she can to the base while we look for the orbs,” Crystal replied. “She’ll probably find us later. Are you guys ready?”

Samuel gave a wide grin. “Let’s knock these guys into next week!”

“We’ve got an intruder!”

Crystal turned her head when she heard the voice and caught sight of a Trainer wearing a plain gray uniform scrambling across the room towards the exit that was on the other side of the cave base’s entrance.

“Come on!” Crystal ran after the Magnus Trainer, wondering what Type this Trainer employed. She wondered if he was Rock or Ground at first, but then remembered Emerald’s and Diamond’s teams and pushed those two options out of her mind.

“Normal-Types,” Crystal murmured.

“Huh?” Samuel looked over at Crystal as they reached the open doorway at the back of the cave.

“The Magnus Trainers here must be using Normal-Types,” Crystal repeated a little more loudly.

“Normal-Types?” The Breloom’s surprised expression quickly gave way to a wide grin. “This is going to be easy, especially with that attack I used on top of Mt. Pyre!” He mimed punching forward as they moved went through the open doorway. “It’s like I’m Mach Punching and using Mega Drain at once! They’ll never know what hit them!”

“Mach Punch and Mega Drain?” Crystal frowned. “Um…hmm…a punch that give you health – I think that’s Drain Punch. You must have taught yourself it when you used those two moves together on Norman’s Slaking, and it’s only really paying off now.”

“Really? You think so?” Samuel looked down at his paws, impressed. “Huh. Sweet.”

Crystal grinned in response, then turned her attention to what was in the room they had just entered…only to stop short and blink in confusion.

“Something doesn’t feel right,” Crystal said, looking around the room they’d entered.

It was pretty much empty, and the tiles were uniform except for two white ones that stood out. Standing between them was a young man who looked about eighteen with gray, spiky hair. Behind him were a Girafarig, a Vigoroth, and a Raticate.

“Crystal Soul?” the young man guessed. “I’m Damian, the Normal-Type Admin.”

Crystal frowned, thinking back to what Leaf had said. “You’re not like me.”

“No. I’m a stand-in until they find where my commander is supposed to be.” Damian shifted his hands from behind his back and let them drop to his sides. “I’m guessing you’re here for the Orbs? They’re gone, and the entire base has been cleared out with them.”

Crystal jolted at that. “What? Cleared out?”

“They figured you’d be coming. Having the perimeter alarm go off as you and your Pokémon arrived here helped speed them along.” Damian spread his arms, motioning to the three Pokémon behind him. “I’m the last line of defense. Then Alpha’s Mewthree pulls me out, or she doesn’t and I’m arrested. It doesn’t matter to me.”

Crystal wasn’t sure what to make of the Magnus’ lazy, almost careless tone of voice. “You don’t seem like a last line of defense. You seem more like a distraction.”

“Maybe I am, maybe I’m not.” Damian shrugged again. “The point is, though, is that the Orbs are gone, and so is everyone else.”

Samuel snarled and lunged forward, slamming a fist into the Vigoroth’s chin and sending it flying back and up into the ceiling at the other side of the room. Then he turned and glared at Damian. “You’d better tell us where they’ve gone or I’m gonna do that to you!”

“Samuel, don’t threaten him like that,” Crystal said warningly. “Attacking humans is a bad idea. Do you remember what happened to me in Petalburg and on Dewford?”

The Breloom winced at that and frowned. “Right…sorry.”

“That being said, I would like to know where it is that the other members of Team Magnus might have gone off to.” Crystal turned to frown at Damian. “I would appreciate it if you would at least tell me something.”

“Well, considering that you can’t stop us, I don’t see why not.” Damian shrugged. “You’ll probably find something going on in Slateport near the docks.”

“What?”

“If you hurry and get there, you might find out.” Damian gave a lazy yawn as his three Pokémon returned to the PokeBalls on his belt. A moment later, there was a bright flash, and he disappeared from sight.

Crystal stared at the place where Damian had been standing a moment ago, then turned and looked at her team. “We have to get down to Slateport as soon as possible. If what he said is true, then we might be able to catch one of the Magnus members in the act of doing something down there.”

“But what about Amy?” Richie asked. “She’s part of the team now too, even if she doesn’t have a PokeBall.”

“Yeah!” Mike nodded vigorously in agreement. “Maybe she’s back in the water waiting for us!”

Crystal flinched a little a Mike’s barking voice, then paused and considered his words for a moment before nodding. “Well…all right. It might be a good idea to wait for her, especially if we’re going to get out of here unnoticed before going to down to Slateport.”

 _“I am more than capable of flying us there,”_ Latios said. _“It would be a good idea if we were to leave this place first, however.”_

Crystal nodded at Latios’ words, then turned and motioned for the others to follow her out to the water at the entrance to the base again.

Surprisingly, Amy was actually there, waiting for them already.

“This entire place has been completely cleaned out,” Amy complained. “There’s nothing left that anyone could really use – it’s mostly garbage. Except for this thing, maybe.” She held up a purple Ball with an “M” on the front. “Any idea what this is?”

Crystal frowned, picking up the Ball and looking it over. “I don’t think I’ve seen anything like this before…but maybe Professor Oak has. I’ll have to ask him after we’ve gone down to Slateport to check something out.”

“Slateport?” Amy frowned. “Why do you want to go down there? Did you find something in this abandoned place?”

“We found a Magnus Trainer,” Trisha explained. The Vibrava moved forward a little in order to get closer to the Azumaril, but then saw the water below and moved back over the tiles. “He said that Magnus was up to something in Slateport before he teleported out.”

“Really?” Amy’s ears twitched as her eyes widened, and then she gained a determined glare. “Well then, what are we waiting for? Let’s go! Return your team already and get on before we lose them!”

Crystal quickly did just that, returning her five-member team at once as Latios disappeared from visible sight. Then she climbed on Amy’s back, and they shot out of the now-abandoned Magnus base and out into the night.

Amy brought them over to the beach and Crystal quickly climbed off as Latios made an appearance again. “I sure hope you can carry two, because I am not about to get into a PokeBall just for the sake of traveling.”

 _“I am capable of carrying two humans; Crystal and you should be more than easy enough,”_ Latios replied. He shot Amy an annoyed frown.

“That’s strange…” Crystal frowned at the water that led out from Lilycove’s bay and into the open sea. “That Magnus Trainer with the Wailmer is gone. He must have been teleported out while we were inside the base, but we were in there for such a short time….”

“We’ll have time to think about that later,” Amy snapped in reply. “You said you wanted to get down to Slateport, right? Then let’s go!”

 _“Agreed.”_ Latios lowered himself closer to the sand, tipping himself to one side so that Amy could climb up one of his jet-like wings and sit at the base of his neck.

“Right.” Crystal followed after the Azumaril, jumping into the air and manipulating her flight so that she landed gently on Latios’ back behind Amy. “We’re ready, Latios!”

_“Then hang on!”_

Latios rose up into the air above the sand, angling himself towards the south and east. Crystal could feel the Legendary’s body tense as he started to gather together energy, and she quickly wrapped her arms around Amy and rested her head between the Pokémon’s ears.

Before Amy could even offer a noise of protest, Latios suddenly shot out over Lilycove and towards Slateport, turning the entire world into a blur and leaving the city far behind in seconds.

Crystal didn’t dare look down in the fleeting moments that they were flying over the region. As amazing as it would be to see Hoenn at night with the cities lit up, she didn’t want to fall off Latios’ back and take Amy with her.

It wasn’t until she felt Latios slow down and start to descend that she finally relaxed her grip on the Azumaril and opened her eyes to have a look around at where they had ended up.

 _“I spotted something happening near the docks as I flew over,”_ Latios reported as Crystal slid off Latios’ back. Amy followed suit seconds later, looking highly disgruntled and muttering things under her breath that Crystal wasn’t able to catch – and glad that she wasn’t able to. _“Magnus might have sent Trainers there.”_

Crystal nodded. “Thanks, Latios. Let’s go check it out.” She turned and started running for the city, Latios and Amy following after her as she started towards the docks near the city’s northern entrance and exit.

There was a small crowd gathered in the area when she arrived – a reporter and her cameraman, as well as a number of sailors and two figures that Crystal remembered running into the last time that she was in Slateport.

“Is there any way to know what exactly the thieves might do with the submarine?” the reporter asked Captain Stern. “Surely you put a tracking device of some kind on it.”

“We did,” the man confirmed with a nod. “Unfortunately, they were somehow able to find and remove it with little effort. I’m afraid we have no idea where it is that it could have been taken – or why, even. Hopefully, if any Trainers who might be traveling the seas right now hear about this, they might be able to find it, but considering how large the sea is in this region…” He sighed and shook his head. “I highly doubt that it will be found anytime soon.”

“I’ll see if I can get the Pokémon in the region to look, as well,” the girl in the Ranger outfit standing next to him added. “If they can force it to the surface and drag it to short, it will be much easier to find.”

“Well, that’s certainly unfortunate.” The reporter turned to face the camera. “Well, you heard it here first, folks! Captain Stern’s experimental submarine has been stolen by members of Team Magnus! If anyone out in the region might be able to locate it and return it to Slateport, I’m sure we’d all be mighty thankful. But what is it that Team Magnus might be up to with it? Hopefully, we won’t be forced to find out first-hand.”

“And that’s a wrap,” said the cameraman. He waited a moment before letting his camera drop.

“I don’t know if that’ll be all that much of a help in getting it back,” one of the sailors muttered, frowning. “Team Magnus took it underwater, and they probably took it down deep to avoid getting caught. Whatever it is that they’re up to, I don’t think that they’re going to let us find the sub easily.”

“Then we need to be thorough in our search.” Captain Stern turned to look at the group of sailors as the reporter and cameraman started back towards the Pokémon Center. “Go and get some rest; we’ll start early in the morning.”

The sailors nodded and walked off, grumbling and murmuring to each other. They sent Crystal curious looks as they moved past, but none of them stopped to talk to her as she, Amy, and the invisible Legendary walked over to Captain Stern and Ranger Aria.

“Team Magnus stole a submarine?” Crystal asked, frowning.

Captain Stern turned in surprise and looked at Crystal. “Oh! I didn’t think that you were in the area?”

“I only just flew here from Lilycove,” Crystal replied. “There was a Magnus base up there, but it was pretty much emptied out by the time I got there. A Magnus Trainer told me that something was going on in Slateport, but I guess I got here a little too late.”

“Something happened, all right.” Aria jabbed a thumb at the building behind them that was protecting the dock from weather. “Stern’s submarine was stolen by that Magnus Trainer named Sapphire, and we don’t know where it is that they went.”

“Sapphire…right, the Water-Type.” Crystal frowned. “Something similar to that happened to me on Mt. Pyre earlier this afternoon. A Ghost-Type girl and a Fighting-Type boy named Platinum and Pearl took off with the Red and Blue Orbs that were in the shrine there. I have a few guesses as to what they could be planning with them, but I don’t know how they’re going to be able to follow through with them.”

“The Red and Blue Orbs?” Captain Stern stiffened. “Oh, dear…this isn’t good.”

“You know about them, too?” Crystal cocked her head to one side.

“The entire region knows the legend behind them,” Aria replied. Her forehead creased with worry. “I’m guessing you came to the conclusion that they’re planning on reviving the two Legendary Pokémon, then?”

Crystal nodded. “Yeah. The problem is, though, that I don’t know where they’re sleeping. If I knew that, I might be able to do something to stop the Orbs en route to their destinations. As it is, I only just missed them when the Orbs were in the Lilycove base, only to be taken who-knows-where.”

“The sleeping Legendary Pokémon….” Captain Stern trailed off, frowning. His eyes widened a moment later. “They could be looking for Kyogre’s resting place! She sleeps in the sea!”

“Of course!” Aria slammed a clenched fist into an open palm. “That’s why Sapphire took the submarine – they’re going to be checking the sea floor for any possible hint at Kyogre’s location! I’m going to need to get out there and find that sub before they find that Legendary!” She paused, then groaned. “But I don’t know where it is that it’s sleeping!”

“Maybe the people on Mossdeep might be able to help.”

Crystal blinked at Captain Stern’s comment, and looked over at him with a confused expression. “Mossdeep? Where’s that?”

“It’s an island far off the coast. The fastest way to get there is by Surfing east of Lilycove, then south. The people there are just as in touch with nature as they are in touch with the sciences – they are constantly looking for a way beyond the stars in order to find new worlds.” Captain Stern gained a thoughtful expression. “The Gym Leaders who live there are said to be pretty in-touch with the Hoenn region as a whole Maybe they’ll be willing to help you.”

“Gym Leaders?” Crystal frowned. “Are the last two Gym Leaders on the same island?”

“The two Gym Leaders on Mossdeep share a Gym, actually,” Aria replied. “You’ll find out why when you get there. The other Gym’s in Sootopolis.”

“Okay, thanks.” Crystal nodded. “Mossdeep…okay, I’ll definitely head there tomorrow. In the meantime, what are you guys going to do?”

“Search for the sub,” Captain Stern replied simply. “There’s nothing much else that I’d be able to do otherwise, except mayve start building another, but that’s going to take time and money that I don’t have right now.”

“And if you found a base that was cleared out in Lilycove, that means there must be more,” Aria added. “I’ll spread the word around to other Trainers and the Pokémon in the region as much as I can so that I can see if I can find any more – and the sub. I doubt they’re going to expect a Ranger to get involved now, since you’re getting most of their attention.”

“Yeah.” Crystal nodded in response. “Good luck, and be careful – the leaders of each section of Types might end up trying to fight you or your Pokémon themselves, if they feel like they need to. Do you have Pokémon with you that can help defend against most, if not all Types out there?”

“Don’t worry about me; I’ve got years of experience helping people out of sticky situations.” Aria smirked. “You get back to Lilycove and get some rest. You’ve got a long journey ahead of you yet.”

Crystal blinked in surprise at that, then smiled a little and nodded. “Yeah. I do. Good luck.”

“And the same to you.” Aria gave Crystal a thumbs-up.


	66. Water Route

The next morning, Crystal was once again standing on the beach with Latios and Amy, her team having returned to their PokeBalls after a night’s rest in the Pokémon Center in Lilycove.

“You’re sure about this?” Crystal looked at Latios with a concerned expression.

 _“I am.”_ Latios nodded. _“With Amy, you still have six Pokémon with you, even if she isn’t going to battle on your orders.”_

Amy, who was floating in the water already, huffed at that.

 _“I’ll fly ahead to Mossdeep; the Gym Leaders know of Latias and I; I can remain hidden inside their Gym until you catch up. I have no doubt that you will be able to find the island by evening, at least.”_ Latios nudged against Crystal’s shoulder. _“I’ll be fine. I’ve lived without a Trainer before, you know.”_

Crystal hesitated for a moment at that, then nodded. “Right; sorry, it’s just, with Magnus around –“

 _“I understand your concern.”_ Latios drifted away from Crystal and rose into the air a little. _“And Crystal, please get to know Mike a little better. I understand that you don’t like Dark-Types, but something tells me that you were given his Egg for a reason. He may turn out to be your greatest ally.”_

Crystal winced a little at that, remembering how she couldn’t even look at Mike last night and that morning. “I’ll…I’ll try.”

 _“Please do.”_ Latios gave a final nod, then rose high into the air, disappearing from sight. Crystal heard a faint boom moments later, and wondered if that was Latios shooting towards Mossdeep.

“Well, I hope that you’re not going to be standing there all day,” Amy commented, frowning. “Come on; we’re wasting daylight.”

Crystal nodded. “Right.” She knelt down on Amy’s back. “Let’s go.”

**Space Break**

“No, you can’t do that! Taking Pokémon in that way isn’t right!”

Aria turned her head when she heard the young man’s voice, moving her focus away from the tunnel that she had been considering going down into order to go deeper into Meteor Falls. As she frowned, she caught sight of a group of men and women a short distance away, a large, young man standing in front of them, wearing a red cape and with his arms spread wide in order to keep them from going after five Bagon that happened to be on the other side of a pool or water.

“What makes you say that?” asked one of the men – spiky black hair, a dark cape with what looked like a Dragon Fang over the top of a mountain sewed on the back. “They’re Pokémon! Pokémon can be caught by whomever!”

“Not Dragon-Types. You must earn their trust and interest before you can even think about doing that kind of thing.”

“He’s right.” Aria walked towards them, grabbing one of the six PokeBalls from her belt and tossing it forward, releasing an Altaria. “And then you have to prove yourself to the Dragon Tamers as someone they can trust to watch over one of their brood, especially if that Pokémon comes from their home turf here in Meteor Falls.”

“A Ranger!” a woman with red hair exclaimed with alarm.

“No, a Trainer!” a man disagreed.

“She’s both!” The man with spiky black hair pointed at Aria. “That’s the Trainer who came close to becoming a Champion a few years back and became a Ranger instead! And she’s still got her team!”

“That’s not the only thing I still have.” Aria raised her arm, revealing that there was something embedded in her Ranger Styler. “You ready, Alta?”

The Altaria spread her wings in response and let out a battle cry.

“If you clear out now and make sure that you don’t take any of the Dragon-Types that are living here, and I won’t give you the beat-down that you’re asking for,” Aria said with a grin. That grin quickly changed into a determined glare. “Now _leave._ Or else my Dragon-Type becomes part Fairy and you are all going to be running screaming like little girls when she Moonblasts the lot of you.”

The group of men and women looked at each other nervously while the man who was standing between them and the Bagon looked surprised and…perhaps a little unnerved.

Aria moved a hand over her Styler, reaching for a large, colorful stone that was embedded in the device. “You have five seconds.”

The men and women cleared out of the cave in seconds, scrambling over each other so quickly that it was almost impossible to tell them apart – especially when they tripped over their capes and collided with each other on the way out of the cave.

Aria lowered her arms and sighed as Alta relaxed her offensive stance. “Well, at least we didn’t have to get violent this time.”

Alta huffed and raised her head, frowning. Aria chuckled and stroked the bird’s neck.

“I know, you were looking forward to letting loose. We’ll have to find a few Trainers who would be willing to give us a challenge – maybe Winona will be willing to give us a rematch.”

Alta considered that, then gave a trill in response.

“Thank you for that.” The man who had been defending the Bagon approached Aria and Alta, a relieved expression on his face. “I was concerned that I would have to actually fight them on my own.”

“You mean there aren’t any other Dragon Tamers around?” Aria frowned. “Normally there’s more than one watching a group of Bagon hatchlings.”

“The others are busy today, I’m afraid,” the Tamer replied. He sighed and shook his head. “Those Trainers…they did not have any honor or respect for the ground that they walked upon.”

“That symbol on the backs of their cloaks didn’t look like one I’d seen before.” Aria paused. “They could have been Team Magnus members, and according to what I’ve heard and seen from them, they are already rather low when it comes to honor and respect. Most people who join groups like that usually are, although there are some who can also be forced. I bet it’s hard to hold onto your honor in situations like that.”

The Tamer blinked at that, looking surprised at the comment. “You sound like you have experience with such things.”

“I’m a Ranger, I’ve seen groups come and go.” Aria shrugged. “You might want to let the other Tamers in Meteor Falls know about what’s going on and make sure they know to keep an eye on the younger Dragons.”

“Right.” The Tamer nodded, then turned and started deeper into the cave.

“By the way, I’m Aria,” Aria called after him. “If you let them know I was here and tell them about Magnus, then there’s a chance that one of you might be able to leave the cave and help.”

The Tamer paused at that statement and looked back at Aria with eyes as blue as the sky. “I’m Ryu.”

**Space Rip**

Crystal returned Samuel to his PokeBall, smiling in triumph as the man swimming in the water pulled a small-diamond-shaped item out from under his swimming cap and used it to revive his Starmie for something to hold onto. “You’re pretty good with Water-Types!”

“Thanks!” the man replied, pleased. “I don’t think I’ve seen a Trainer able to balance on an Azumaril like that before, either -- you must be pretty good if she’s able to manipulate water for platforms for the Pokémon.”

Crystal laughed nervously in response, rubbing the back of her neck while Amy huffed, blowing bubbles. “I guess so.”

“So, where are you headed?”

“Mossdeep. But this is my first time in this area, so I’m not entirely sure as to where it is that I’m going.” Crystal gained a sheepish expression.

“Hey, no need to be so nervous! A lot of beginner Trainers don’t really travel off the mainland all that often, so I get where you’re coming from. If you’re looking for Mossdeep, it’s to the south and just a little further east from here – if you start going south here, it’ll probably come up on your left after you go past a couple sand banks.” The swimmer pointed to the south with one arm. “You’re going to see the mangrove trees growing on the shore first. Can’t miss it.”

“Thanks!” Crystal gave the swimmer a cheery smile, then looked down at Amy and gave the Azumaril a gentle pat between the ears. The Water-Type released another stream of bubbles, then turned to the south and started swimming in that direction.

They got a good distance from the swimmer when a Tentacool bobbed over to them, keeping pace with Amy as the Water/Poison-Type eyed the Azumaril and her rider.

“Are you that Pokémon girl that rumors are being spread about?” the Tentacool asked. “The one from Kanto?”

Crystal looked over at that Pokémon and nodded, the illusion covering her ears and tail flickering for a moment. “Yeah, that’s me. Did you just come by to check and see if the rumors were true?”

“Something like that. I heard you were going up against those humans that are disrupting everything.”

“Yup.” Crystal frowned a little. “Are they causing trouble for you right now?”

Amy turned her head slightly so that she could look over at the Tentacool.

“Nothing on the surface.” The Tentacool bobbed, as though he was shrugging with his tentacles underwater. “They are being a nuisance, though. Making it hard for us to go hunting for food that hasn’t been disturbed. We think they might be looking for something, but none of us really know what yet. And they’re releasing this nasty stink that’s making it really hard to get close to them to figure out what’s going on.”

“A stink? That must be some kind of underwater-proof Repel, then.”

“Yeah. It’s spreading through the currents around here. It’s driving a lot of us crazy with the smell, and it’s not going away anytime soon, that’s for sure.”

“Try to stay away from it as best you can, then.” Crystal gave a helpless shrug. “I can’t really be of much help other than that, I’m afraid. I can’t go underwater.”

“I can, but to carry a person with me, I need Dive,” Amy spoke up. “And you’re going to need seven Badges.”

“Thanks, Amy.”

“I hope you can figure out what’s going on soon,” the Tentacool said. “I don’t want to see my home turned topsy-turvy like one of those Inkay from Kalos.” He sank underwater and disappeared from sight.

Crystal watched the Tentacool disappear, then turned her attention to what was ahead of them. “I hope we can catch Magnus before they do anything that could harm the environment more than what has already happened….”

Amy snorted a number of bubbles. “Trust me, we’re a lot more resilient than we look. A little Repel isn’t going to hurt us in the long run.”

“That is true, but what about Kyogre and Groudon? I’d rather not see this region torn apart by a war between two Legendaries.”

Amy didn’t answer, but she did pick up speed a little.

Within about an hour, the duo ended up coming across a house on a small sandbar that was sitting near some small, rocky islands that hardly looked habitable. It wasn’t so much the house that caught Crystal’s attention, however, as it was the young man sitting at the edge of the sandbar wearing a pair of swim trunks.

“Blue!” Crystal raised her hands above her head and started to wave them wildly in order to get the man’s attention. “Hey, Blue!”

The man looked up at the sound of her voice, and his eyes widened as his eyebrows shot up. “Crystal?” He quickly scrambled to his feet as Amy came over to the sandbar, a smile appearing on his face. “Hey! Long time no see! What are you doing out here?”

“Going to Mossdeep.” Crystal stepped off Amy’s back, allowing the Azumaril to follow her up onto the sand bar. “The next Gym’s there, and I’m hoping we might be able to follow some leads on what Team Magnus is up to from some of the locals, too.” She frowned. “What are you doing out here? And not even hiding your shell, no less!” She motioned to the Blastoise shell on Blue’s back, exposed quite prominently since he wasn’t wearing a shirt.

“Oh, that?” Blue looked back at the shell on his back. “I went around without a shirt one day and no one was actually terrified of the fact that I was half-Pokémon, so I figured that it’d be all right if I went without it. I’ve gotten a few questions and a couple people have wanted a spar, but other than that, they’re actually pretty okay with it.”

“Isn’t that a little…odd, though?” Crystal frowned. “I mean, wouldn’t they be at least a little nervous around you?”

“Nah. The Gym Leaders know me, and they’ve already said that no one’s gonna try anything while I’m here, so I’ve been taking it easy. The water’s been really starting to stink a little, though.” Blue’s nose crinkled up as an expression of disgust appeared on his face. He shook it off a moment later. “So, what does your team look like? You’ve got to have picked up a few Pokémon while you’ve been running around the region. I can already see that you’ve got an Azumaril.” He nodded to Amy.

“Actually, she’s an ally,” Crystal corrected. “I haven’t caught Amy – she’s just helping me out. As for the rest of my team....” She started removing the PokeBalls from her belt and started releasing the Pokémon inside each of them, being careful to let them have enough space to stand on the sand, while at the same time putting as much distance between herself and Mike as possible.

“Ven, Kaz, and Esmeralda are near Rustboro, staying near a flower shop,” Crystal explained. “It’s been a while since I’ve contacted them, though. I should probably do that and let them know I’m all right.”

“Well, considering that you’ve gotten pretty far already on your own and there _has_ been news about you appearing all over the place, I think you’re fine,” Blue replied. He looked over the group of five Pokémon. “So? You’re going to introduce me, right?”

“Right.” Crystal nodded to the group. “Richie – the Gallade – was the first Pokémon that I met in the region. He’s a Psychic and Fighting-Type, and a really good friend.”

Richie puffed his chest out in pride.

“Samuel is the Breloom next to him – a Grass and Fighting-Type. He likes to get into the action a lot, and he’s helped me out of more than a few tight spots in the past.”

Samuel gained a slightly put-off expression and scowled at Crystal, and she laughed in response, causing him to gained a slightly amused expression.

“Ando is an Armaldo. He evolved from an Anorith, which is a prehistoric Pokémon from this region. I got him in Rustboro after helping a company called Devon get something back that had been stolen.” Crystal nodded to Ando, who gave a slight bow in greeting.

“A prehistoric Pokémon?” Blue repeated in surprise. “Did they revive him?”

“Yeah. I offered to keep an eye on him, and he’s become an important part of the team.” Crystal smiled at Ando appreciatively. “Especially at Winona’s Gym.”

Ando made a rumbling noise at that, pleased.

“I found Trisha as a Trapinch at Lavaridge.” Crystal nodded to the Vibrava. “She evolved when I…ran into some trouble on the way to Fortree. Same with Ando, actually.”

“Like we were going to leave you defenseless,” Trisha buzzed.

Blue nodded, then noticed Mike looking at him from the back of the group with a curious expression. He blinked for a moment, and his eyes widened. “Uh…Crystal? Is that a Dark-Type over there? Are you starting to get over your fear of them?” He looked over at Crystal, and frowned as she winced.

“Not…not yet.” Crystal shook her head. “When I got Mike, he was an Egg someone found on the Jagged Pass, just…abandoned. I-I didn’t _know_ he was a Dark-Type until he hatched after we left Fortree. He evolved just yesterday on Mt. Pyre when we were fighting against Team Magnus, and—“ She cut herself off and shuddered.

“There was a Magnus girl who was part Grass who had a Mighteyna with her,” Ando spoke up with a low growl, startling Blue. “It used Intimidate. Crystal did not take it well.”

Mike’s ears drooped at that, and he let out a whine. “That wasn’t me, though….”

“Of course it wasn’t.” Richie reached back and scratched Mike’s head, but he only got a weak tail-wag in response.

Blue looked at Mike for a moment, then walked over to him and got down into a crouch in front of the Pokémon and looked him in the eyes. Mike stared back at him with a confused expression, then a nervous one.

“I don’t think you’re a bad Pokémon.” Blue held out a hand, palm up, and let Mike sniff it before scratching at the Mighteyna’s head, starting with the side and working his way around and up to behind one of his ears. “You just have a Trainer who’s had bad experiences with Pokémon of your Type. Don’t worry; she’ll come around. It’ll just take some time for her to get used to you.”

Mike cocked his head to one side at that, looking curious and perhaps a little hopeful. “Do you think so?”

“I know so. I’ve gone through some humbling experiences, so I know that it just takes time with these kinds of things. She’ll warm up to you – you’ll see.” Blue glanced over at Crystal, who looked a little nervous at Blue’s words. Then he rose to his feet and brushed the sand off his knees. “So, Mossdeep?”

Crystal blinked a couple times, then focused on what Blue had just said and nodded. “Y-yeah.”

“I can take you there, if you want.” Blue grinned. “I’ve been working on my Surfing abilities myself, and besides, I really should be getting back – River is back on Mossdeep with Yellow.”

“Yellow’s out here, too?” Crystal’s expression brightened as she remembered the girl she’d met when she’d found Blue in Kanto before coming to Hoenn. “How is she?”

“If we go to Mossdeep, you’ll find out.” Blue smirked at Crystal and winked before taking a running leap into the water, diving in. He surfaced a moment later and called, “What are you waiting for? Let’s go!”

**Space Rip**

There was a crunch of snow under his feet as he made his way to the top of the mountain for what felt like the umpteenth time that day. There was something strange in the wind…it was shifting in ways that it hadn’t shifted before, and it had made him think that a blizzard was coming at first.

The fact that the sky remained clear made him uneasy. It almost always snowed on top of the mountain here, and if there was any reason at all that the sky was clear, it can’t have been a good one.

“What do you think?” asked the yellow mouse Pokémon on his shoulder.

“I think something’s going to happen,” came the reply. “And it can’t be good.”


	67. Twin Psychics

Crystal leaned forward on Amy’s back as she crashed through the waves after Blue, who kept slipping over and under the ocean’s surface and grinning back at them as they got closer to the island in the distance which, like the swimmer Crystal had met earlier had said, had mangrove trees planted in the submerged shore.

What she wasn’t expecting, however, were the two short figures with sky blue hair standing on the shore as Blue, Crystal, and Amy arrived on the island.

“Hello,” the boy and girl said in unison as Crystal stepped onto the shore. Amy followed after her as Blue climbed onto the shore at the same time.

“Hello,” Crystal replied, looking at them curiously.

“I’m Tate,” the boy said.

“And I’m Liza,” the girl added.

“We’re twins!” they exclaimed together.

“I’m Crystal.” Crystal nodded in greeting. “And this is Amy, an Azumaril friend of mine.”

Amy shot Crystal a curious look, raising an eyebrow.

“I don’t think I’ve met any twins before.” Crystal looked Tate and Liza over curiously. “Or, well, I’ve _seen_ twins, but I’ve never actually been challenged by them to a battle. Are you looking for one?”

Blue chuckled. “You could say that they are,” he commented. “Crystal, these two are the Gym Leaders for Mossdeep.”

Crystal looked at Blue in surprise while Tate and Liza shot him looks of annoyance.

“We were going to tell her that!” the twins exclaimed, put off.

“Sorry!” Blue held up his hands in a placating gesture, but the smirk on his face suggested that he was more amused by their reaction than made nervous by it.

“Twin Gym Leaders?” Crystal blinked a couple times at that before cocking her head to one side. “How does that work?”

Tate smirked. “Why don’t you come to our Gym—“

“And we’ll show you?” Liza finished, wearing a smirk that matched her brother’s. “We have been waiting to meet with you, Crystal—“

“—and we’d like to see your abilities first hand.”

“So heal up at the Pokémon Center—“

“—and we’ll send a Trainer to take you to the back room of the Gym when you’re ready.”

Tate and Liza gave quick bows to Crystal before turning and running in sync towards a set of stairs that led up to the main island itself.

Crystal watched them go, blinking in confusion. She turned and looked at Blue. “Are they—“

“The locals say they have a telepathic connection with each other.” Blue looked over at Crystal and shrugged. “Considering that they’re always speaking in sync like that and have a natural affinity for Psychic-Types, I’d believe it.”

Crystal blinked at that, her eyebrows rising up as her invisible ears flicked forward. “Really? Huh. I wonder if they’re going to want to test their abilities against my own.” She gained a thoughtful expression.

“Well, only one way to find out.” Blue smirked. “Go on to the Gym and heal up. I’m going to go find Yellow and Rive and let them know you’re here – we can probably catch you after you’ve talked with Tate and Liza and show you around the island and the Space Center.”

“Sure; sounds good.” Crystal nodded. “I can check around and see if anyone knows what Magnus is up to then, too.”

“Sure, you can do that. I’m not sure how much of a help they’ll be, though – things have been pretty quiet around here.”

“They won’t be for long.” Crystal started towards the stairs that led up to the main part of the island, Amy following after her.

Blue quickly jogged up after them. “What do you mean, not for long? What’s going on, Crystal?”

“That sub that was stolen last night from Slateport? They’re using it to look for a sleeping Legendary Pokémon that can control the seas – Kyogre, apparently. That’s why the water stinks – they’re using Repels to keep wild Pokémon away while they’re looking for where the Legendary is sleeping.”

“They’re _what?!_ But why?”

“I don’t know. And in order to find out, I have to find Magnus and stop them before they can wake Kyogre and Groudon up.” Crystal stopped in front of the Pokémon Center and looked back at Blue. “Any news at all would be a big help at this point.”

Blue blinked at that, then frowned and nodded. “I see. All right, I’ll do what I can to help, but you should talk to the Gym Leaders first – Tate and Liza might be able to help.”

Crystal nodded. “I certainly hope so.”

The two split then, Crystal going inside the Pokémon Center to get her team healed up from the journey to Mossdeep, and Blue to find Yellow and River, his Blastoise.

When Crystal came back out of the Pokémon Center, her team in tow, she wasn’t expecting to see a familiar face.

“Capone?” Crystal blinked in surprise when she saw the Trainer standing in front of her. “What are you doing here?”

The Trainer standing in front of her – a dark blue-haired and dark-green-haired young man – blinked at the question, then raised an eyebrow. “I’ve been living here since a few years back, when Team Rocket tried to come around again. Considering that they used Hypnosis last time, I didn’t want to get caught up in that mess again.”

“Oh!” Crystal blinked a couple times at that. “I-I see. I guess that makes sense.”

“You know this guy?” Richie asked, looking at Capone curiously.

Crystal nodded, turning to look at her team. “Capone is a friend from Kanto. He was a part of Team Rocket, but only because he was hypnotized into taking a position there.”

“You mean like some of the Trainers we’ve found in Team Magnus so far?” Richie blinked in surprise.

Crystal nodded. “Yeah, exactly. Team Magnus wasn’t the first group to do something like that.”

“Magnus is Hypnotizing Trainers?” Capone’s voice carried alarm.

Crystal nodded. “Yeah. So far, I’ve run into three Trainers who have been Hypnotized – a Poison-Type Trainer named Eros, a Ghost-Type Trainer named Kara, and a Fighting-Type Trainer named Hiton. I’m sure there are others, but I haven’t run into them yet.”

Capone frowned, his already dark eyes darkening to an almost black. “These people…I knew that there was something bad about them the moment they started appearing all over the region. That’s why I got a Pokémon I knew would be able to detect danger as soon as I arrived in this region.” He reached for his belt and touched a green and black Ball that was attached to his belt, along with a Great Ball and two PokeBalls. “Katrina has been uneasy for the last two days.”

“Katrina?” Crystal blinked a couple times.

“An Absol. They’re able to sense danger if it happens to be nearby.” Capone motioned for Crystal to follow him, then started down the street. Crystal followed after him. “They live up by Fortree normally, but recently they’ve started to spread out a little and warn more people than just the ones who live in the trees.”

“What Type of Pokémon is an Absol? Psychic?”

Capone shook his head at the question. “She’s a Dark-Type.”

Crystal stumbled as her team looked at her, then at Capone in surprise. Mike’s ears shot straight up in interest.

“A D-Dark-Type that _detects_ danger?” Crystal asked in shock. “H-how is that—“

“I think it has something to do with their horns.” Capone shrugged. “Look, I know that you don’t like Dark-Types very much, but these guys have gotten a lot of flack because they have looked like they brought the disaster, instead of bringing warnings. They actually care _a lot_ about humans, despite what others may think.” He glanced back and blinked when he caught sight of Mike. “Did you get over your fear of Dark-Types when I wasn’t looking?”

Crystal shook her head. “I got Mike as an Egg; I didn’t know he was a Dark-Type. I also didn’t know he’d be able to evolve so quickly. He’s only Level 20 right now.”

Capone stared at Crystal. “Mighteyna are basically like Arcanine.”

“What?”

“Think of Mike as though he’s an Arcanine – just, smaller and differently colored. They’re really loyal to their pack leader – their Trainer – and goosestepping around him and acting like you’re scared of him is going to make him think that he’s done something wrong personally to you.”

Crystal blinked slowly at that, the words sinking in as they arrived at the Gym’s entrance. Her nervous expression was quickly replaced with a saddened one as she imagined Mike as a Kanto Fire-Type instead of the Hoenn Dark-Type that he was. “Oh….”

“’Oh’ is right,” Capone agreed, nodding. “I’d suggest you keep that in mind until you’re comfortable with him, all right?” He pushed the doors open and motioned for Crystal to follow him inside. “You might want to return your team; this place is full of teleporter pads and getting split up in this place is a bad idea.”

“Am I going to have to solve a teleporter puzzle?” Crystal asked curiously.

“Nah. We’re going straight to the back room – the twins want to talk to you for now; if they think that you need to go through the puzzle later, they’ll probably just teleport you back to the entrance.” Capone shrugged one shoulder, then motioned for Crystal to follow him.

Crystal quickly returned her team and followed Capone, Amy right behind her as they worked their way through the Gym, which was made up of different platforms on various levels without stairs to reach them. Different-colored tiles were embedded in the floor, pulsing with their own strange auras. Capone made it a point to avoid them, not even so much as leaping over them and instead finding a long way around most of them.

When they reached the back wall of the Gym, Capone paused in front of a certain section of the wall and stood there for a moment, arms folded across his chest. After a moment, he nodded and walked forward _through_ the wall, disappearing from sight.

Crystal’s jaw dropped as she blinked in surprise. “What just—“

Capone stuck his head back through the wall. “It’s a hologram. Now are you coming through or not?” He disappeared through the wall again.

Crystal blinked a couple times at that before shaking her head and stepping through the wall herself…

…and into a small room with constellations painted on a dark purple ceiling and four armchairs that looked like they were designed based off Pokémon.

Tate and Liza – who were sitting in chairs that had Lunatone and Solrok on them – fixed their gazes on Crystal as Capone sat down in the third chair with a Xatu design.

“Please, sit.” The twins motioned to the last chair – a Clefairy design – with their right arms.

“Feel free to bring your Pokémon out,” Liza said.

“And reveal what you have hidden,” Tate added.

Crystal nodded, then released her team into the room and moved to sit down in the chair as she let her illusion drop. Her Pokémon team quickly crowded around her, while Amy moved to sit with her back against the left armrest of Capone’s chair.

“So…you wanted to talk to me?” Crystal asked cautiously. “Is that right?”

The twins nodded.

“Considering that you have been traveling through Hoenn and battling Team Magnus personally—“ Liza began.

“—we would like to know how your journey has gone and what you have faced so far on your travels between Gyms,” Tate ended.

Crystal nodded, noticing the curious look that Capone sent her at the Gym Leaders’ request. She began her tale with Gold’s arrival in Kanto, then their arrival in Hoenn with Blue and Yellow, and what had happened in Littleroot before she continued with what had happened in the Petalburg Woods. She skipped over a good deal of the details from her journey, only mentioning when she met certain Pokémon or Trainers in detail, as well as when she had run into Team Magnus and what it was that they had been doing in the areas that they had been found in – how Lauraina had poisoned the Petalburg Woods, how Silver and Diamond had kidnapped the entire island of Dewford and kept them trapped in the Granite Cave, how Dalton had kept Watson captive for a time in the abandoned New Mauville, how Emerald had stolen the meteor from Meteor Falls, how Ruby had nearly set off Mt. Chimney, how Leaf had taken over the Weather Institute for a time, how Platinum and Pearl had taken the Orbs from Mt. Pyre, and what had happened in Lilycove and Slateport.

Crystal also made sure to mention Xavier’s statements to her and what Leaf had revealed about the different Trainers in Magnus who were like her – half human, half Pokémon – and what their other halves were.

“They did _what?!_ ” Capone leapt from his chair, causing Amy to turn and look at him with surprise. “Are you serious?!”

“Unfortunately,” Crystal replied unhappily. “I think Yellow might be the Normal-Type they’ve been trying to look for, too – she’s got Girafarig ears under her hat.” Her own ears flicked back a little at the memory of seeing those ears before she had left Kanto. “I’m more worried about the fact that they have someone almost exactly like _me_ in their ranks – the one who teleports the Magnus members out before they have a chance to be arrested.”

“She carries Mew’s aura,” Ando said, nodding.

Tate and Liza exchanged looks like Capone stared at the Armaldo, not having expected him to actually speak.

Capone shook his head and started pacing back and forth. “This is worse than I thought. If they have a Mewthree, then they’re probably going to know everything that Crystal can do.”

“I want to try and talk to her – from what it sounds like and from what other Pokémon have said, she’s not actually happy with her situation.” Crystal’s ears twitched with worry. “If I can get her away from Magnus, I might be able to get her over to our side, but every chance I have to catch her is when she’s teleporting Magnus Trainers away from where I happen to be.” She frowned. “And it doesn’t help that there are Trainers out there who have been put in the same situation and don’t think they have any other choice in the matter, either.”

“You mean the other Trainers who are half-Pokémon?” Tate asked.

Crystal nodded. “Leaf said they’d told her she wasn’t going to be accepted by anyone else, and that she had to come with them. She hadn’t known that Erika – the Grass-Type Gym Leader in Celadon – had known about who I was. If Leaf had gone to her, I wouldn’t have had to fight her in the Weather Institute, and Magnus might have been made slightly weaker, too.”

“Hindsight is always twenty-twenty,” Liza remarked knowingly. She inclined her head. “Yellow isn’t one of them.”

Crystal shook her head. “Because Blue found her first. He was a Squirtle, but I guess he’s part Blastoise now, if he has cannons hiding in the shell on his back.”

Capone nodded at that.

“Blue and Yellow are really nice people,” Liza said with a smile.

“Especially since they’ve found that they’re accepted here and aren’t being bothered,” Tate added. “They’re still people—“

“—regardless of whether they’re part Pokémon or not. What you are doesn’t identify you so much as –“

“—what your actions define you as.”

“How have your actions defined you, Crystal Soul?” the twins asked in unison.

Crystal blinked at that, looking surprised at the question. “How have my actions defined me? I…I’m not really sure. I haven’t really thought about that. I guess that I hope people see me as a kind person who’s willing to defend those who need to be defended.”

“You’re also a shy kid who takes a while to really open up to people,” Capone added. “And you’re scared to death of Dark-Types and haven’t properly opened up to the one on your team yet.” He nodded to Mike, who was lying next to Crystal’s chair rather than in front of it by her feet.

Tate and Liza exchanged looks at this while Crystal flinched back a little, her ears flicking back as a shamed expression came over her face.

“It seems that you have to learn to get along with all Types,” Tate noted, frowning.

“There are Pokémon with odd combinations of Types that can make a person nervous,” Liza continued.

“But Trainers have to learn to adapt and not be completely frozen with terror every time they find a Pokémon that they don’t like very much.”

“We don’t like Malamar and don’t use him, but we aren’t completely terrified,” the twins finished in unison.

“It’s not that I don’t _like_ Dark-Types, it’s that I was attacked _by_ them,” Crystal spoke up quickly. “Team Rocket set a pack of Houndoom on me – I still have faint scars from where I was bitten!” She rubbed her arms and shuddered at the memory of their teeth sinking in. “Wh-when Leaf’s Mighteyna glared at me….” She trailed off and shuddered again.

“That doesn’t mean all Dark-Types are bad,” Liza spoke up. “Capone’s Absol is kind and quiet.”

“Unless she knows there’s something wrong,” Tate added.

“Mighteyna are loyal to their Trainers – vicious, yes, but only when their Trainer and team members are in danger,” Liza continued. “If treated well, they can become great companions.”

“Pokémon of any and all Types can be terrifying. If you had been attacked by Ghost-Types, what would you think of them?”

Crystal shuddered instantly. “I wouldn’t have been able to set foot on Mt. Pyre.”

“And what do you think of them now?” the twins asked.

Crystal blinked, then cocked her head to one side as she considered the question. “They’re troublemakers, but they do mean well. And they are loyal to each other and those people and Pokémon they might consider friends.”

“The same goes for Dark-Types,” Capone said, nodding. “And no two Pokémon are the same, either – you should know that.”

“Yeah….” Crystal sank down in her chair, feeling like she was being given a lecture. “I…I _guess_ that’s true….”

“And don’t try to forget it,” Capone said pointedly. “Different Types or not, Pokémon do have the exact same feelings. You should know that better than anyone.”

“Yeah….” Crystal fidgeted as she remembered all the Pokémon that she’d been able to meet over the years.

Not even Rosa and Catzin acted the exact same way – Catzin was definitely the more mysterious of the two, and clearly didn’t like to interact with humans very much. Rosa, on the other hand, liked being around Professor Oak and those Trainers she knew wouldn’t attempt to catch her simply because she was a Legendary and they wanted to use her in battle.

Mew were just as different from each other as humans were, now that she really thought about it.

Tate’s and Liza’s expressions softened, and they looked like they were about to say something else when an alarm started going off, causing the group to stiffen in surprise.

“What’s that?” Crystal looked up and back at the open doorway that led out into the main Gym, catching sight of Trainers scrambling around near the entrance and running out.

“Something’s happening in the Space Center!” Liza leapt to her feet, Tate following a second later.

“What do you mean?” Crystal rose from her chair as Capone reached for the Dusk Ball on his belt. “Does this mean that they’re doing something over there right now or—“

“Someone’s invading the Space Center is what it means!” Tate replied. “We have to get over there now and make sure everyone’s all right!”

“Invading?” Crystal’s eyes widened sharply before they quickly narrowed. “Where’s the Space Center?”

“On top of the highest hill on the island,” Capone replied. “They’ve got a rocket up there that they’re finishing building, and they’re planning on launching it soon. You can’t miss it.”

“Thanks! Come on, guys!” Crystal turned and dashed out of the room, her team quickly following after her and following her lead as she maneuvered around the teleporter pads in the floor.

“Do you think it might be Magnus?” Richie asked as he kept in step behind her.

“It might be. And even if it isn’t, it’d be a bad idea to let whatever’s going on at the Space Center follow through.” Crystal’s tail lashed as she moved around the last teleporter pad and reached the front door of the Gym. “If there are people attacking innocents just because they want something, I can’t let that happen!”

There came a cry of agreement from the Pokémon with her in response as they exited the Gym and ran towards the large building that Capone had described. People standing in the streets watched them go by with expressions of surprise when they caught sight of Crystal’s ears and tail, but they didn’t make any comment on them, only watching with concern and worry as Crystal and her team ran towards the Space Center.


	68. Space Center

The doors of the Space Center were wide open when Crystal arrived with her team in tow, and she was able to see the chaos that was going on inside without having to so much as set one foot into the building.

As soon as she saw a Trainer in a gray shirt with a Vigoroth behind him herding a group of scientists into one corner, she knew exactly who was to blame for what was going on.

“Magnus!” Crystal’s eyes narrowed. “I should have known that they were the ones up to something here.”

“We’re going in?” Samuel asked – perhaps a little too eagerly.

“We’re going in,” Crystal confirmed. “Just don’t harm the Trainers – not even if they’re half Pokémon.” She sent Samuel a knowing look, which caused him to huff for a moment before he caught sight of something, grinned, and lunged forward.

“Force Palm!” The Breloom slammed into a Vigoroth, knocking it off-balance and causing paralysis while also catching its Trainer’s attention.

“Hey!” the Trainer turned his head as Crystal walking into the Space Center’s first floor, and he paled. “Oh, no. I thought that we’d left you with a dead end in Lilycove!”

“Apparently, you didn’t take into account the fact that I’m also taking the Gym challenge!” Crystal called back. “This place just happened to be next!” She clenched her fists. “What do you think you’re doing here, anyway?”

“Uh—“

“Don’t tell her!” called a girl wearing a pink, flowery dress. “Lady Serena will have our heads if you so much as spill a single word about what we’re doing here!”

“Serena…?” Crystal frowned as she thought back to what Leaf had said. “The Fairy-Type. She’s here?”

The girl jumped at that. “O-oh no….” She quickly grabbed a PokeBall and threw it out. “Azumaril! Use –”

“Magical Leaf!” Richie threw his attack at the Water Rabbit Pokémon just as she was coming out of the Ball, causing her to flinch back on contact with the Grass-Type attack. He threw two more rounds at the Azumaril as she tried to put up an Aqua Ring to protect herself, but that failed and she ended up collapsing.

“Take out as many Pokémon as you can and get the scientists out of here!” Crystal ordered. “Team up in pairs – you’ll be able to down Pokémon faster and cover your Type disadvantages that way.”

Her Pokémon nodded in response and split up, Ando and Richie pairing off at the same time that Samuel and Trisha did, leaving Mike and Amy to work together as their own pair. Crystal charged ahead alone towards the girl in the dress who had spoken as Ando and Richie went towards the Normal-Type Magnus Trainer who was keeping an eye on the scientists. Samuel and Trisha went to another part of the room, the Breloom leaping over desks with a whoop of excitement right before he slammed a fist into the face of another Vigoroth.

“Clefairy!” the girl in the dress threw out another PokeBall, releasing a pink Pokémon with long, pointed ears, small wings, and a large, curled tail. “Use Disarming Voice!”

The pink Pokémon let out a clear tone that caused Crystal’s ears to flick back as she came to a stop a short distance away from the girl and the Pokémon, wincing at the noise. Crystal quickly recovered, however, and quickly gathered together the energy she knew she needed.

 _“Psyshock!”_ Crystal thrust her arms forward, fingers splayed as the Psychic attack hit the Clefairy and caused her to collapse from the force of the attack.

The girl squeaked in alarm as she returned her Pokémon, quickly scrambling for another PokeBall as Crystal stood a short distance away from her, tail lashing.

 _“What is your reason for being here?”_ Crystal asked, frowning as she broadcast the telepathic question to the whole floor. _“You are planning on using this place for a reason, aren’t you? I would like to know why you think this place is as important as the submarine in Slateport was.”_

The girl in front of Crystal froze at the question, suddenly looking _very_ nervous as she brought her hands away from the two PokeBalls at her waist – the fainted Azumaril’s and Clefairy’s. “U-uh….” She shook her head. “I shouldn’t say!”

“She already knows about the submarine and she knows about the Orbs,” one of the Normal-Type Magnus Trainers called as he returned his Vigoroth and held up his hands so that Samuel would see that he had no more Pokémon to bring out. “What’s the point in hiding what we’re planning at this point?”

“Because!” the girl yelled back.

“That’s not much of an answer,” the now Pokémon-less Magnus Trainer by the scientists said. He held up his hands and stepped back from the scientists, who scrambled out of the corner and towards the open door.

“They came in demanding something about the rocket fuel,” one of the scientists said quickly as he moved past Crystal and out the door.

 _“Rocket fuel?”_ Crystal raised an eyebrow at that. _“What would you want with that?”_ She fixed her gaze on the girl again, frowning.

The girl looked nervous at that and started stuttering again before she quickly ran around Crystal and out of the building.

Crystal sighed. “I guess that means we have to go up to the next floor in order to find out what they’re up to.” She shook her head and started towards the stairs as her Pokémon let the other Magnus Trainers they had defeated leave the building, only to be caught by a group of Trainers who had gathered outside the doors.

Richie moved next to Crystal as they started to climb the stairs. “That girl wasn’t wearing the same thing that the other Trainers were wearing. What Type do you think she was using?”

“Fairy,” Amy called up as she followed after them. “Clefairy and Azumaril are both part Fairy. Or did you forget that?”

“Really?” Richie blinked in surprise.

“They were recently pegged as Dual-Types with Fairy,” Crystal explained. “The Pokémon Professors didn’t know that Azumaril were Water and Fairy and Clefairy were Normal and Fairy until a couple years ago. I forget the name of the professor who found that out, though….”

“I didn’t really pay too much attention to the news, either.” Amy sounded like she was shrugging, but Crystal didn’t look back to check as she reached the second floor of the Space Center.

The second floor was one room, just like the first, but it had a large number of computers and monitors – most of which were abandoned, most likely by the scientists who had escaped out the front door.

There were a few people standing on in front of the monitors and around the room, however, and they all turned to look at the stairs as Crystal and her team stepped onto the second floor.

“Crystal!” cried a familiar young girl’s voice in alarm.

Crystal’s ears shifted immediately, and she turned her head to find the source of the voice, her eyes widening in alarm. “Yellow! What are you doing up here?!”

“I-I saw them coming up here a-and I wanted to stop them!” The little girl struggled against the two Normal-Type Magnus Trainers who were gripping her arms. “They took Dody and Ratty away from me, too!”

“Only because they aren’t Pokémon that befit someone of high power such as yourself,” replied another girl’s voice. This one, however, sounded haughty and proud.

Crystal turned her head to find the source of the voice and frowned when she caught sight of a blond girl wearing a red and pink dress, a large umbrella that looked like a flower over one shoulder. There was definitely something about her that didn’t seem to be…completely human.

“You’re Serena,” Crystal guessed, turning to face the girl. “The Fairy-Type…Floette, right?”

“Indeed.” The girl – Serena – inclined her head and gave a small smile. “You certainly seem to be quite knowledgeable about who and what I am, for a Trainer who hasn’t joined our ranks and has clearly never considered the notion.”

“A little Pidgey told me a few things,” Crystal replied carefully. Mentioning Leaf now might actually be a bad idea, if the way Serena was acting was any inclination. “What are you doing here? What do you want rocket fuel for, anyway?”

“Is it really any business of yours?” Serena raised an eyebrow.

“It is if you’re planning on destroying the region and possibly the rest of the world with it.” Crystal frowned. “I don’t know what you were told, but you’re causing a lot more bad than good. You should really stop before it becomes too late.”

Serena stared at Crystal for a moment, then put a hand up to her mouth and giggled. “Are you serious? You really think that I’m going to stop just because you told me to? My, you must be naïve.”

Samuel started moving forward, growling, but Crystal held up an arm and kept the Breloom from moving forward any further.

“I’m not naïve to think that you’d take my advice, but there’s nothing wrong in trying,” Crystal replied. “You’re absolutely certain that you won’t turn back now? Because I’d rather not have you destroy any locations that could possibly lead you to Legendary Pokémon that you think you can use.”

Crystal’s statement caused the Magnus Trainers in the room to stare at her with varying expressions between blank stares and surprise. Yellow looked confused, but she gained a worried expression a moment later.

Serena actually looked somewhat startled, but then she shook her head and frowned. “Do you really think that someone like you can tell us whether or not we can control a Legendary? Just because _you’re_ part Legendary doesn’t mean that you can tell us what to do!” She grabbed a PokeBall off the band from around her waist and tossed it forward, calling, “Go, Dedenne! Teach this girl some manners!”

The PokeBall exploded open, releasing a small, orange and yellow mouse Pokémon with a long black tail and whiskers that looked like they’d been bent like antennas.

“I’ve got this!”

Crystal jumped back in surprise as Mike suddenly lunged forward, mouth open wide as he ran for the mouse and bit down on its tail, causing the little Pokémon to squeak in pain and alarm in response before sending electricity up its tail and forcing Mike to let go.

“An Electric and Fairy-Type?” Crystal guessed as Mike stumbled back, shaking his head as a result of the sparks that were flying from his teeth.

“Indeed. I am slightly impressed that you were able to tell at first glance, considering you haven’t been to Kalos yet.” Serena gave a snide smirk, then called, “Nuzzle!”

“Yes, ma’am!” Dedenne called back – perhaps a little too quickly – and she ran up to Mike and nuzzled her yellow cheeks against his front right leg. A large number of sparks went flying up it as a result, causing Mike to yip and stumble back, only for his entire body to spasm as the electricity settled into his muscles.

“Paralysis,” Crystal murmured worriedly.

Mike shook his head, sparks flying from his fur. He frowned at the little mouse Pokémon and growled a little. “That hurt.”

“It was supposed to.” Dedenne pulled her tail around in front of her and held it in her front paws. “And what are you going to do about it now? You can’t move very fast!” The Pokémon giggled in a way that sounded a lot like her Trainer.

Mike growled again, then bunched his legs underneath him and suddenly lunged forward, _ramming_ into Dedenne and sending the little Pokémon flying into a nearby computer monitor, causing the glass to crack from the impact.

Crystal’s eyes widened sharply in surprise. “What? B-but paralysis slows down a Pokémon! How is it that he’s still moving at the same speed?”

“He must have one of those rare alternate abilities,” Serena muttered. Her eyes narrowed. “Black was experimenting with that with his Mighteyna, but he said that anything besides Intimidate was completely useless to him.”

“Another ability…?” Crystal blinked a couple times at that. It hadn’t occurred to her that Mighteyna could have different abilities that they could make use of. She quickly reached into her backpack and pulled out her PokeDex as Serena returned Dedenne with an expression of disgust. She flipped the device open and pointed it at Mike while pulling up the status screen.

_Pokémon: Mike (Mighteyna)_

_Level: 22_

_Ability: Quick Feet – The Pokémon’s Speed is doubled when affected by status conditions; speed does not fall when affected by paralysis_

_Moves: Tackle (Normal), Play Rough (Fairy), Odor Sleuth (Normal), Bite (Dark)_

Crystal lowered the PokeDex with an expression of surprise. “Speed doesn’t fall when affected by paralysis, huh? That’s actually pretty useful.” She smiled.

“Hmph.” Serena inclined her head sharply as she grabbed another PokeBall. “Dark-Types are weak to Fairy-Types. I doubt that your Mighteyna would be able to withstand fighting them, considering that he’s clearly so weak that he just used Bite instead of Snarl. Black would be berating you for not taking better care of your Mighteyna by letting it grow more powerful.”

Mike growled, sparks flying from his fur still.

Serena tossed out a second PokeBall, releasing a small, white Pokémon that was holding a bright red flower over her shoulder in a similar manner to Serena and her own. “I doubt that you’re even that good of a Trainer.”

Crystal flinched back in alarm at Serena’s words.

“You take that back!” Richie stepped forward, raising a fist. “Crystal’s a better Trainer than you probably ever could be!”

“Yeah!” Samuel agreed. “All you freaks did was poison my forest!”

“And hurt my desert,” Trisha added.

“And turn people’s fears against them,” Ando snarled, causing the other Magnus Trainers in the room to jump when they heard him speak English.

“C-Crystal may not be used to me yet, but I can tell she’s kind,” Mike spoke up. “And she doesn’t like what you’re doing, either. And now that I’ve seen what you have done, and what Crystal can do to help….” He looked over at her, a determined look in her eyes. “I don’t care if she doesn’t like me.” He glared at Serena. “I’m going to help her take you all out.”

Crystal blinked in surprise at Mike’s words, not having expected the Mighteyna to say that despite how she had been acting to him.

Then she remembered what Capone had said about them being Arcanine of a different time, and she felt that shame bubble up again.

_Maybe I should try to get to know Mike a little better._

“Mike, step back a bit; Ando, maybe you can take this Fairy-Type on.” Crystal nodded to the Armaldo.

Mike looked at Crystal in surprise as Ando moved forward, glaring at the little Pokémon. “Wh-what?”

Crystal looked over at him, hesitated, then got down in a crouch in front of the Mighteyna. “When we work as a team, I take the strengths and weaknesses of all my Pokémon into account. You’re already hurt, and you aren’t naturally strong against Fairy-Types. Ando’s the only one of the team who can really stand a fighting chance against Serena’s Pokémon – and Amy, too, but she’s not officially part of the team, so I can’t tell her what to do. If I need to, though, I’ll call you back in, all right?”

Mike blinked a couple times at that, then nodded vigorously. There was a brightness shining in his eyes now – a happiness that Crystal hadn’t really seen before on the Mighteyna’s face – and he licked her cheek. “Okay!”

As Mike moved to stand behind Crystal, she blinked a couple times in surprise at his actions and touched her cheek. _Huh. That…didn’t burn._

“Are we going to fight or not?” Serena demanded impatiently.

Crystal shook her head and rose up to her full height again. “We are. Ando, Brine!”

Ando reared back his head and let out a blast of water, causing the little Fairy-Type in front of him to let out a squeak of surprise. She tried to fly upwards in order to dodge the frothy water, but she still got the brunt of it and was sent flying back and into Serena, who let out a noise of surprise and alarm.

“Ah! How barbaric! Floette, Dazzling Gleam!”

The little Pokémon – Floette – shook her head in an attempt to shake off the damage she had just taken, then floated forward and away from Serena before starting to glow brightly.

“Close your eyes!” Crystal yelped, shutting her own. “And use another Brine – using any other attack with your eyes shut could mean that you’re going to miss!”

Crystal heard Ando unleash the attack again, and Serena let out another yelp at the same time as the splash of water. After a moment, she cautiously opened one eye, then the other when she found that the Dazzling Gleam that Floette had used had faded, and the little Fairy-Type was now lying on the floor, knocked out.

Serena stared down at Floette in shock before her eyes narrowed in anger, and she looked up sharply to glare at Crystal as she gritted her teeth. “How _dare_ you do that!”

“It was a Pokémon battle,” Crystal replied. “Pokémon fainting is something that’s kind of expected.” She frowned slightly, cocking her head to one side. “Were you expecting me to just let you walk all over me? Because that’s not how battles are done.”

Serena’s grip tightened on her flower, which started to glow a little as she returned Floette to her PokeBall. “Because you’ve beaten _her,_ now _she’s_ going to show up, and I’m not going to be able to get what I need! How _dare_ you do this to—“

There was a bright flash, and Serena was gone, effectively cutting her off. More flashes started to follow moments later, causing the Magnus Trainers who were scattered throughout the room to disappear from sight.

“I’m not going!”

Crystal turned in surprise when she heard Yellow’s cry, and she sucked in a breath.

Yellow pulled back from the teenage girl who was standing behind her, frowning up at her as she took back the two PokeBalls that were lying on the ground where the Magnus Trainers had been a moment ago. “I’m not with you, so I’m not going!”

The brown-haired girl hesitated for a moment, her Mew ears flicking back a little as her Mew tail twitched. Then she noticed Crystal staring at her, and looked up with sky blue eyes, the movement of her head causing the gold collar around her neck to glisten in the light a little.

The two of them locked gazes for a moment, and then the other Mewthree suddenly erupted with light and disappeared.

**Space Break**

“I can’t believe that I actually failed!” Serena stomped across the room in a rage that was most definitely unlady-like. “I wouldn’t have failed if Xavier or Ryu had been with me! There’s no way she would have been able to hold her own against our power then!”

A teenage boy with spiky hair that was so dark a purple it was nearly black let out a burst of laughter, causing Serena to turn and glare at him venomously.

“And why do you think this is funny, Black?” Serena demanded, walking over to the couch the boy was lounging on.

“You really think that what you were doing there was at all important?” Black asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking. His dark-purple tail flicked with amusement. “That was just something to keep Crystal busy while Sapphire and Ruby took care of their missions. Do you really think that we’d _need_ the rocket fuel, since we already know where the Legendaries are? It’s only a matter of time before they manage to break through the seals that are keeping their chambers sealed off from the rest of the world, and then we can go in with the Orbs, no problem.”

Serena folded her arms across her chest and huffed. “I was told that it was important that I go to Mossdeep and get the rocket fuel. I highly doubt that it was supposed to be a distraction for Crystal Soul.”

“You weren’t told that it was going to be a distraction because you then Crystal might have heard one of the goons say something about it.” Black waved a hand lazily. “Then she would have clobbered you and demanded where the real action was going on. She might have gone after Sapphire or Ruby and sent someone after the other one, and then where would we be? We wouldn’t be able to fulfill Alpha’s dream then.”

Serena blinked at that, then frowned. “Alpha’s…dream? What do you mean by that?”

Black’s smirk widened into a knowing grin, and he sat upright on his couch. “Oh? Then allow my to enlighten you.” He patted the couch next to him. “Alpha’s dream began back in Kanto, after Mewtwo was revealed to have been created by Team Rocket….”


	69. The Champion's Plan

Crystal slipped the Mind Badge into her Badge case, a little surprised that Tate and Liza had given it over so easily, but relieved to know that they saw her as worthy of having it after what had happened in the Space Center about fifteen minutes ago.

“Thanks.” Crystal ducked her head a little. “I…I wasn’t expecting to not even have to set foot in your Gym in order to get this.”

“It is a little unusual,” Liza agreed.

“But we’ve seen enough of your prowess with your Pokémon to know that you can handle yourself well in a situation that might call for a Psychic’s touch,” Tate added. “Especially considering that we managed to get all those Magnus Trainers arrested.”

“We’ll be keeping an eye on them here so that they don’t get teleported off suddenly,” Liza finished.

“Thanks.” Crystal nodded. “I’m just glad that we were able to prevent them from possibly doing any damage here. The island is a really beautiful place, and if Magnus did anything that could bring harm to it, a lot of people and Pokémon would definitely end up displaced.”

“Indeed,” the twins responded together.

“Crystal, your team is fighting fit!”

Crystal turned her head when she heard Nurse Joy, and she smiled in thanks as five PokeBalls were placed on the counter and Amy walked out from the back of the Center, accompanied by a Chansey.

“Thanks, Nurse Joy.” Crystal walked over and picked up the PokeBalls, releasing her team into the lobby of the Pokémon Center before attaching the Balls to her belt. “Okay, guys, we’ve got the seventh badge, but we still have no idea where Team Magnus is going or what exactly they’re planning on doing when they awaken Kyogre and Groudon. We could go after the eighth badge, but I’m wondering if we should put that on hold until we can do something about Team Magnus and make sure they aren’t going to tear this region apart.”

The Pokémon exchanged looks at that, appearing surprised.

“These guys are dangerous.” Richie looked at Crystal with a determined expression. “If we have to wait to fight the last Gym, I don’t mind. Magnus is more important.”

“Yeah!” Samuel nodded in agreement. “We’ve got to take care of these guys, or else!”

The rest of the team was quick to add their own affirmations to the decision.

Amy, who was standing off to one side, snorted and nodded. “These guys aren’t going to give us any peace. There’s no way that taking on the eighth Gym now with them hunting for the Legendaries would be a good idea.”

Crystal nodded, then turned to look at Tate and Liza. “Do you know if there’s anyone who might be able to help us? We need to reach Kyogre and Groudon before Team Magnus does.”

“I think I know someone who can help with that.”

Crystal’s invisible ears flicked back at the sound of the familiar voice, and she turned in order to see who it was that had spoken. Her eyes widened a moment later. “Aria? What are you doing here?”

“I happened to be in the neighborhood because I was planning on meeting someone, and I ran into a couple Trainers who said that they wanted to help.” Aria looked back behind her and motioned for two figures behind her to come closer, causing Crystal to stiffen out of surprise.

“Leaf?” Crystal asked in surprise. “Wh-what are you—“

“I snuck out of the base in Lilycove when they were leaving and tried to find help as quickly as I could,” Leaf replied. “I ended up running into Gold near Fallarbor, and….” She shrugged, looking nervous. “I-I really want to help. Team Magnus isn’t what I thought it was.”

“There’s definitely more going on than when I was stuck with them,” Gold added. “If they’re going after Legendary Pokémon, then we’re going to need more than just us in order to take them out.”

Ethan, who was sitting on Gold’s shoulder, nodded in agreement. “Yeah. There’s no way that they’re gonna let us just waltz in and stop them now.”

“Who are you looking for, then?” Crystal turned her attention back to Aria.

“The Hoenn Champion.” Aria looked over at Tate and Liza. “I know he’s got a house here; do you know if he’s home?”

“He came back from traveling on the mainland about two days ago,” Tate replied.

“He should still be there now,” Liza added. “He always comes and tells us—“

“—when he’s planning on leaving—“

“—so that we can keep an eye on his house while he’s gone.”

Aria nodded. “Okay; thanks.”

“The Hoenn Champion lives here?” Crystal asked in surprise. “I would have thought that he would be living near where the Pokémon League is in this region.”

“This is the closest island to the Pokémon League,” Aria replied. “And besides, Ever Grande is basically just Victory Road. There isn’t enough room there for a house, really.”

“Do you remember where it is?” Tate and Liza asked.

“Yeah, I remember.” Aria motioned for Gold, Leaf, and Crystal to follow her out of the Pokémon Center. “Come on. Hopefully, he’ll have a few answers as to what’s going on.”

As the group stepped out of the Pokémon Center, Gold looked over the Pokémon that Crystal had with her and raised an eyebrow.

Crystal noticed. “What?”

“You have a Dark-Type on your team.” Gold motioned with his head towards Mike, who looked over at him with his ears perked up. “I heard that you tended to stay away from them.”

“Usually, yeah.” Crystal nodded, then hesitated. “Someone found him as an Egg that had been abandoned on the Jagged Pass. I promised I’d take care of him, but I didn’t know that he was a Dark-Type until he hatched up by Fortree. I’m starting to warm up to him a little, though.”

Gold blinked at that, looking a little surprised, while Leaf looked between Mike and Crystal with wide eyes.

Ethan’s ears twitched up at that. “Huh.”

“Taking on a Pokémon that’s a Type you’re scared of, huh?” Aria looked back at Crystal and gave a confident smile. “That’s pretty brave of you. I don’t think that very many Trainers are willing to get over their fears like that.”

Crystal looked at Aria in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“That Water-Type Gym Leader in Kanto? Misty?” At the others’ nods, Aria elaborated, “I’ve heard that she’s absolutely terrified of Bug-Types, and she won’t even consider letting one on her team. She can handle fighting them, but she doesn’t one them coming too close to her. Which is a real shame, considering that Hoenn has a Water _and_ Bug-Type pair – Surskit and Masquerain. I’ve heard that some Trainers have been trying to get her to even consider the idea of taking one on, but she’s turned down all the attempts so far.”

“Huh.” Crystal blinked a couple times at that, cocking her head to one side in thought. “Blue is scared of Electric-Types – or at least, he _was,_ I don’t know what he could have been up to for the last few days that we’ve been in Hoenn. A lot of his personal team is made up of Water-Types and Pokémon that can take down Electric-Types quickly, even though he’s got a main Gym team that has Types from all over the place.”

The group worked their way up a street and turned to the left towards a small house that was sitting on the edge of the island, not too far from a cliff. There were a couple strange-looking rocks scattered around the grass, but Aria ignored them as she walked right up to the front door of the house and knocked.

A moment later, the door opened, and a familiar figure appeared in the doorway.

“Steven?” Crystal asked in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

Steven blinked a couple times at the question, then gained an amused expression. “I live here, Crystal.”

“You’ve met the Champion already?” Aria turned and looked at Crystal in surprise while Gold, Ethan, and Leaf looked between Steven and Crystal with wide eyes.

“I-I didn’t know he was the Champion before now, though!” Crystal responded. “I just thought that he was another Trainer – one that had interests in Steel-Types!”

“I don’t tend to introduce myself as Hoenn’s Champion,” Steven admitted, “so it’s understandable that you’d be surprised.” He looked over at Aria. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you. Congratulations on becoming a Ranger, Aria. I’m guessing you’re here because of Magnus.”

Aria nodded. “Yeah. Some things have happened, and I was thinking that we might be able to pool our resources and come up with a plan to stop them.”

“I’ve been thinking the same thing. Please, come in.” Steven stepped out of the doorway and motioned for the group to step inside. “I’ve been attempting to work out their movements, but unfortunately I haven’t been to all the locations that Crystal has been to.”

Crystal’s eyes moved quickly over the living area that they had stepped into, taking note of the paper that was scattered everywhere and the large, paper map of Hoenn that was on top of a table. She made her way over to it instantly. “You’re right. Mt. Pyre isn’t on here.”

“They were at Mt. Pyre?” Steven repeated in surprise. He made his way over to the map quickly. “Why? What were they –“ He cut himself off as his eyes widened. “Were they after something specifically there?”

Crystal nodded. “The Red and Blue Orbs. I wasn’t able to stop them from taking them, and when I went to the secret base they had in Lilycove later in order to try and get them back, they’d already been taken somewhere else – where, I don’t know.” She looked up at Steven with a grim expression. “I would be going to where the Legendary Pokémon are sleeping right now, but the problem is that I don’t know where they are, and I’m getting the feeling that Magnus _might_.”

Steven frowned and put a hand to his chin. “I see. That certainly is troublesome. We are going to have to move quickly then in order to prevent them from accomplishing whatever it might be that they’re planning.”

“They’re looking for Legendaries?” Gold repeated, frowning. “I don’t remember hearing anything about that…are you sure?”

“The Red and Blue Orbs have a dark history,” Steven replied. He went over to a couch that was sitting on one side of the room near some displays that held evolutionary stones and picked up a small stack of paper that was sitting on one of the cushions. “According to legend, they’re power that was siphoned away from Groudon and Kyogre – Legendaries that represent the land and sea – in order to prevent their war against each other from destroying the world. They’ve been sleeping ever since, and would no doubt start the war up again if they are awakened near their respective Orbs.” He tapped the stack of paper in his hand. “I’ve been studying the murals that the people from that time left behind, and the depictions of the war and how it ravaged the land and the sea are troubling.”

“Which is why we need your help,” Aria replied. “You’ve studied Hoenn’s past just as much as you’ve studied the rocks that hold it and the rest of the world together. Do you have any idea at all as to where the Legendaries could be sleeping?”

“I do, actually.” Steven dropped the papers onto the map on the table, spreading them out so that Crystal, Leaf, Gold, and Aria could see them more clearly. “I’ve come up with a list of possible locations – most of them are for Groudon, considering that there’s really only one place that Kyogre could be and all we would need to do is find Pokémon that knew Dive and start combing the trench that’s to the east and north of Sootopolis. The other locations that have had a lot of recent Magnus activity and could also possibly be Groudon’s resting place are here.” Steven held up one of the paper for the younger Trainers to inspect.

Crystal took the paper in her hands and quickly looked over the list while Aria, Leaf, Gold, and Ethan peered over her shoulders. “These look like places that I’ve been to before. And they’re getting Magnus appearing there again?”

“They’re obviously preparing for something,” Steven confirmed with a nod. “We’re going to need more than just us in order to be able to do anything about them, though – the list is longer than what just we might be able to handle.”

Crystal eyed the list for a moment longer, frowning. “Actually…I think I might know of a few people who’d be willing to help.”

“You do?” Gold looked at Crystal with surprise.

“Yeah. There are a few other Trainers who have given me some help against Magnus before. I’ve got their numbers on my PokeNav – I’m sure they’d be more than willing to take some of the locations on this list.” Crystal looked up at Steven with a determined expression. “There’s definitely more than just us who are able to take these guys on.”

Steven blinked at that, looking surprised. Then he smiled and nodded. “Good. Get in contact with them and tell them what we’re planning and what areas to check out. Make sure you decide among yourselves where you want to go, as well.”

“What are you going to do?” Aria asked, looking at Steven with a curious expression.

“I’m going to follow another lead and see if I might be able to find some help of another kind.” He paused. “Crystal, what are the named and numbers of the Trainers that you’ve managed to find so far? I might want to get into contact with them myself if I’m going to be able to find someone who might be willing to help me chase after another legend.”

“Another legend?” Crystal frowned. “Are you sure that you know what you’re doing? If Kyogre and Groudon are bad ideas to wake up, what about anything else that might be here in the region?”

“The legend I’m searching after is one that was made by humans in order to combat Kyogre and Groudon in order to keep them from damaging human civilization further,” Steven explained. “And in order to do that, I am going to need some assistance from a few other Trainers who might be able to help me complete the puzzles that will awaken them.”

Crystal blinked a couple times at that, considering what Steven had just said before nodding. “All right. But be careful, please – some Pokémon were probably meant to remain sleeping.” She reached into her backpack and pulled out her PokeNav and pulled up her contacts list. “Okay, so the Trainers that I’ve run into who might be able to help are….”


	70. Chapter 70

**Lilycove**

“Okay, time to check out that base that Crystal said was around here. Maybe we could find something that she missed.” Archie looked up at the Pelipper that was flying over his head.

“I hope so.” The Water/Flying-Type sounded concerned. “Whatever these guys are doing, it can’t be good. Especially if they’re going after those Legendaries.”

Archie nodded in response. “We’d better find them before they manage to find them, or else who knows what could end up happening. I definitely don’t want to find out.”

The two of them worked their way through Lilycove and down towards the beach at the edge of town, where Crystal had said that the Magnus base was supposed to be.

“She was it was a cave pretty close to the coast, so—“

_BOOM!_

Archie jumped as something exploded near them, causing the beach to shake and the waves to froth up as he and the Pelipper looked around in alarm for the source of the noise.

“There!” The Pelipper flew down and pointed in the direction of a landslide that was in the progress of finishing. “That must’ve been the base Crystal told you about!”

“Thanks, Peng!” Archie started running down the beach, followed by his Pokémon. “Looks like they’re trying to bury the evidence that they were ever here! But with an explosion like that, I’d have to say that they failed spectacularly!”

“Yeah!” Peng agreed. “Where do you think the explosion went off?”

“Only way to find out is to get that landslide moved out of the way so that we can get in there!”

There came a bark of laughter from nearby – a girl’s laughter. “Do you really think that you’re going to be able to get in there? I flooded the cave – there’s no way that you’re going to find anything useful!”

Archie came skidding to a halt, kicking up sand in all directions as he looked around in order to find where the voice had come from. He caught sight of a familiar girl standing on the back of a Wailmer out in the bay. “You! Sapphire!”

“Oh? You know of me?” The girl grinned at Archie. “You must be one of Crystal’s friends, then! I didn’t think that I’d be getting attention from anyone besides that stupid Ranger who tried to go after me in Slateport some weeks back!” She laughed. “Well, if you’re planning on trying to investigate around here, you’re too late! We don’t need this base anymore, so I got to destroy it!”

Archie gritted his teeth while Peng started to make a growling noise that sounded more like an angry gurgle. “Do you realize what you’re doing? Those Legendaries aren’t supposed to be woken up this way, if at all! You’re going to destroy everything all over again! What would your mom and dad say?!”

Sapphire actually faltered at that for a moment, then shook her head and gained a determined frown. Sending a final glare in Archie’s direction, she tapped the Wailmer under her feet with a foot a couple times, then sank down into the water, disappearing from sight.

Archie stood on the beach, glaring at where Sapphire had just disappeared to. Then he looked up at Peng. “Come on. Let’s go find Dad.”

**Fortree**

“I still can’t believe that I’ve been partnered up with _you_ of all people,” muttered the yellow-eyed woman as she glared at Xavier.

The Flying-Type boy shrugged impassively. “That’s because you didn’t do too well where you were before, Lauraina, and you weren’t partnered up with anyone. This is just an experiment – you’ll probably end up partnered with someone else if this doesn’t work out.”

“I’d like to work on my own again.” Lauraina huffed and folded her arms across her chest. “If only that stupid girl hadn’t gotten herself involved…I could have turned the Petalburg woods into the perfect—“

“HEY!”

Lauraina gained an annoyed expression at the sudden yell as Xavier gained an expression of surprise. The boy looked down in order to see where the voice had come from.

“You! Magnus!” Kyle pointed up at the two of them accusingly. “What are you doing on top of that house? If you’re planning on destroying Fortree, I won’t let you! Pidgeot, let’s go!” He threw a PokeBall up, releasing the large Kanto bird. Then he leapt onto the Pokémon’s back, and she flew up so that she was level with Xavier and Lauraina’s position on top of one of the tree houses. “If you think that you’re going to be able to get away with wanting to wake up a couple Legendaries that could very well destroy the world, you’ve got another thing coming, especially since _one_ Legendary in _Kanto_ could have very well done the same thing years ago!”

“Well, obviously that Pokémon was much too weak, since the world is still standing,” Lauraina scoffed.

“I wouldn’t be so sure.” Xavier shifted, moving from a sitting position to a half-crouching position on the branch he and Lauraina happened to be on. “There’s a strength in knowing to hold back, too. Clearly, you don’t know how to do that.”

Lauraina gritted her teeth and glared at the boy as he grabbed a PokeBall from his belt. “You think I don’t know how to hold back?! I didn’t hit that girl with a Poison Jab, I hit her with a Toxic! The Poison Jab would have finished her off much more quickly if I had!”

“You did _what?!”_ Kyle roared. “Pidgeot, knock these two out of here! Air Cutter!”

Pidgeot brought her wings back, then suddenly lashed them forward, sending forward a wind that almost seemed to be cutting the air in two as it came towards Lauraina and Xavier.

Xavier tossed the PokeBall up and jumped, catching the PokeBall midair seconds after it had released a large Pokémon with a purplish headdress of feathers. They shot out of the way of the attack just seconds before it hit Lauraina, who let out a screech and gripped the branch tightly in order to keep herself from falling off and down to the ground far below.

“Why do you care about that girl?” Lauraina demanded. “She’s just like me – half Pokémon, half human!”

“But she’s completely my friend!” Kyle snapped back. “She’s young, she’s determined, and she’s a really sweet kid. You laying a hand on her and hurting her is only going to make more people come after you!”

“Do you really think I care?” Lauraina snapped back in reply.

“It’s clear that you don’t,” Xavier replied from where he and his Pokémon were flying above the battle. “But you should really keep an eye open for those who you might have wronged in the past, because they could come up and wrong you in the present.”

“And what does that mean?!”

“Weezing, now!” a young man’s voice called.

A cloud of smoke suddenly exploded up from somewhere further down, covering Lauraina and causing her to start coughing and hacking as another figure suddenly jumped up through the branches, followed by a large Poison-Type Pokémon that appeared to be made up of two spheres connected together.

“I have been looking for you,” said the young man. “I don’t know if you remember, but I certainly remember being ambushed by your people and forced into service! It’s high time that you paid for the pain that you caused by separating me from my family!”

Lauraina shook her head as the smoke cleared and tried to focus her eyes on the man, clearly still wincing a bit from the sting of the smoke. She tried to give a grin that seemed intimidating. “Do you really think that you’re going to be able to do anything against me? I’m part Crobat! Any Poison-Type attacks you might throw at me will do little to nothing!”

“You’re forgetting that you are also part human,” the man replied. “And that _is_ weak to poison. Weezing, let’s go!”

**Mauville**

“Whoo-hoo! Take out the power, Magnezone! I want to see what this place looks like when it’s been _overcharged!_ ”

Gold cursed under his breath as the Electric Admin of Magnus went flying over the open square on the back of his Pokémon, cackling madly as the Magnezone unleashed a blast of electricity at the city below.

“I didn’t think a kid like you would have a mouth like that.” Zack raised an eyebrow at Gold, an unnerved expression on his face.

“You pick up a few things from Pokémon,” Gold replied. “Especially when you can understand them.”

“You’d better hope your mom doesn’t catch you with that mouth,” Ethan commented snidely from Gold’s shoulder. He was promptly shushed by the Lunatone hovering behind Zack.

 _“If we are going to take Diamond, Emerald, and Dalton, we are going to need to work together,”_ the Rock and Psychic-Type murmured. _“Please, no petty arguments now.”_

Ethan snorted at that, while Gold nodded.

“We should take care of the lunatic up there first.” Gold nodded up to Dalton and his Magnezone as they made another pass over the square. “He’s been too close to his Magnezone, so whatever brain he’s got left up there is pretty well fried at this point. Take care of him, and we take care of the electrical problems before they get worse.”

Another figure crouched next to them. “An excellent plan, son, but how do you suggest we get him down?”

Gold turned his head and looked back in surprise. “Watson? What are you doing out here?”

“Helping you.” The Gym Leader grinned. “These silly kids think they can rule my town? Ha! They’ve got another thing coming, let me tell you!” He gained a more serious expression. “Besides, that boy up there needs to be taught a lesson in humility and when to not throw the mayor of a town into an electro-magnetic infested area like New Mauville.”

“He might be too gone for that, but we can try.” Gold nodded. “You know this city better than the both of us. Is there anything that we can do in order to get Dalton to come down?”

Watson considered that for a moment, then nodded. “I do believe I have something, and it might be able to get that Emerald boy and Diamond to become trapped as well.” The Gym Leader grinned widely, almost making him appear crazed. “Let’s go!”

**Slateport**

Steven looked up at the large cave that was in front of him and took in a breath before releasing it slowly. After looking down at his belt and making sure that he had the PokeBalls in the right order, he turned his attention to the cave again and walked forward, disappearing from sight almost instantly.

**Near Lilycove – Safari Zone**

“You’re sure that there are Magnus Trainers who hide in here?” Aria frowned at Leaf as they worked their way through the underbrush.

“Positive.” Leaf gripped one of her PokeBalls tightly as the flowers in her hair spun – most likely out of nervousness. “They have places to hide everywhere, and if they’re starting to come out of hiding more and actually be active, then they’re going to want to disrupt things here, too – especially since Trainers can come here and find Pokémon that can’t be found anywhere else in Hoenn.”

Aria nodded. “I know what kinds of Pokémon live here; Hoenn is my home region, and I traveled around for a while before I left to become a Ranger. If Magnus thinks that they can disrupt a habitat like this and get away with it easily, they have another thing coming.”

There came a laugh from ahead of them, causing the two girls to stop short. Aria’s face instantly gained a guarded expression, while Leaf adopted a more nervous one.

“Do you really think that you can do anything to stop what we have planned?” Serena stepped out into the open, looking amused. “There’s nothing you can do; everything’s been set in motion. It’s only a matter of time before the other shoe drops.”

“We’re going to make sure that it doesn’t drop,” Aria replied, determined. She tossed out a PokeBall. “Swamp, let’s go!”

The large mud fish Pokémon exploded out of the PokeBall and landed in front of Aria and between her and Serena. A low growl came from the large Pokémon’s throat.

Serena eyed the Pokémon with an expression of disdain as another, darker laugh came from the bushes, and another figure emerged – a teenage boy with dark purple, near-black hair and a tail to match.

Leaf backed up a step nervously. “Black…”

“Leaf!” Black grinned, revealing a set of sharp fangs that definitely didn’t look right in the mouth of a human. “I’ve been wondering as to where you wandered off to!” The grin disappeared quickly. “Looks like you decided to join the wrong side. Are you really sure that was a wise decision on your part?”

“Wiser than anything that I’ve done for a while,” Leaf replied. Her voice was shaky, and it was pretty clear that she was extremely nervous about seeing him. “Joining Magnus was a bad idea.”

“Now that’s where you’re wrong.” Black’s grin became feral again as he grabbed a PokeBall from his belt; Serena took one as well a moment later. “How about I show you just how big of a mistake you made by abandoning us?!”

“And I’ll show you how big of a mistake you made in joining them in the first place!” Aria responded.

**Petalburg Woods**

“I can’t believe how much damage was done to this place just by one person,” the Bug Catcher muttered to himself as he worked his way through the tall grass. “All the Pokémon were severely hurt – even the Poison-Types! I’ve got to get these Wurmple looked at, and maybe get a few Nurse Joy and Chansey in here to help heal the Pokémon as best they can…”

“Yeah. It’s a real shame that they hurt this place that much, even at all. The Pokémon are going to spend a long time recovering from that, that’s for sure.”

The Bug Catcher lifted his head when he heard the new voice, blinking a couple times in confusion and looking around before he managed to catch sight of who had spoken. “Are you out here looking for Bug Pokémon, too?”

The light green-haired boy leaning against the nearby tree shrugged at the question. “In a way. I like to talk to them more than catch them, and if they want to follow me around, that’s up to them. I don’t like forcing Pokémon to do things they possibly won’t like.”

“Yeah, I hear ya. Luckily, I’ve been around Bug-Types for years, and I’ve learned to tell when they want to come with a Trainer and when they want to be left alone.” The Bug Catcher patted his belt of PokeBalls, then held out a hand to the boy. “My name’s Al. I’m a Bug Catcher from Kanto.”

The other boy looked over at Al with a curious expression, then smiled and accepted the handshake. “I’m Green. I’m from Kanto, too.” He paused and slipped his hand out of Al’s grip. “You wouldn’t happen to have heard of anyone named Crystal, have you?”

Al blinked at the question. “Yeah, I have.” He frowned. “Why do you ask?”

Green didn’t answer Al’s question, and instead asked another. “Would you consider her a friend?”

“A friend? Well, yeah.” Al frowned. “Again, though, why do you ask?”

Green sighed, and he moved away from the tree he had been leaning against and into a fighting stance. His arms morphed, turning green and appearing as though they were covered in armor as blades extended from his arms. “I guess that means we can’t be friends.”

Al’s eyes widened at that. “Y-you – you’re part Pokémon! Like those other people I’ve been…hearing about….” He frowned. “You’re with Team Magnus!” He quickly reached for his belt and grabbed a PokeBall. “Whatever you’re doing to this region, you _have_ to stop! You could destroy the homes of hundreds of Bug-Types!”

“I know. But I don’t have a choice.” Green shifted his position slightly, then lunged for Al.

“Heracross, go!”

**Mt. Chimney**

“So, how are we going to get into the base?” Crystal reached up for a boulder and tested it to see if it was a good handhold before pulling herself up onto the ledge it was connected to. Then she turned and reached down in order to help first Maxie, then Amy climb up.

“With this.” Maxie reached into a pocket of his jeans and pulled out a small, circular emblem that had what looked like an M-shaped volcano emblazoned on it. “My guess is that all the Magnus members who work in the area have one of these in order to get in, and someone dropped his.”

“Huh.” Crystal’s ears flicked forward at that as an interested expression crossed her face. “I guess they have some sort of system in place to make sure that most Trainers who come up this way don’t stumble on it by accident. Does it still work?”

Maxie nodded. “And the entrance is right around here, so all I need to do is…” He moved away from the edge of the ledge and towards the next cliff that he and Crystal might need to climb up, and he placed the emblem in an indent in the rock face.

A loud rumbling sound followed, and it suddenly felt like the entirety of Jagged Pass was shaking.

Crystal and Amy stumbled forward in surprise, hold her arms out to keep herself balanced as the rock in front of them started moving back into the shape of an open doorway, and the rock that had been blocking the entrance moved to the side and out of sight.

“Whoa! I wonder how they managed to do that!” Crystal quickly righted herself and looked at the entrance n surprise.

“Pokémon. What else?” Amy rolled her eyes.

“I’m curious myself, but I believe that it’s some form of the move Secret Power.” Maxie moved closer to the open doorway and looked over at Crystal. “Are you prepared to enter?”

Crystal nodded. “Yeah. Let’s see what they’re up to here and if there’s anything we can do to slow them down.” She started into the cave, Amy and Maxie right behind her as the two Trainers reached for the PokeBalls on their belts, prepared to release their teams and fight at a moment’s notice.

The inside of the cave – the Magnus base – started out as dark and warm as they went through a tunnel, but then they managed exited it and entered a large cavern that was full of steam vents, electrical, and mechanical equipment.

“Drills.” Maxie nodded to the large, tread-wheeled machines that were at the edge of the cavern. “Just like I thought. These caves aren’t completely natural.”

“Completely?” Crystal looked over at him with a frown.

“Volcanoes have to have places where magma is stored underground before an eruption of any kind. There’s lava in the volcano’s basin, but there’s lava underneath it, as well. They must have redirected some of it in order to be able to create this base, which may not be a good thing for Mt. Chimney.” Maxie looked around. “We are more than likely going to find a large number of Fire-Types here.”

“Sounds like my kind of party,” Amy commented. The Azumaril slammed her paws together, grinning. “Let’s go find these guys and kick them out of here before they do something stupid.”

“We’re going to have to find the Magnus Trainers before we can figure out what exactly it is that they’re doing here,” Crystal remarked, looking around that cavern. “It looks like there are a couple other tunnels that branch out from here and go to other areas.” She looked back at Maxie. “Do you think we should split up in order to cover more ground?”

Maxie opened his mouth to respond, but then a shout from somewhere across the cavern interrupted him.

“Intruders!”

Crystal, Maxie, and Amy turned their heads sharply at the cry, catching sight of a man wearing a red uniform that looked exactly like the ones Crystal had seen in the Slateport Ocean Museum.

“It’s that Mewthree girl that’s been causing us trouble!” the man barked into a cellular device he had in his hand. “I don’t know how she managed to find us, but we’re going to have to move fast if we’re going to stand a chance of getting her out of here!”

“Considering how well your other team members have done with that, I doubt that you’re going to do a very good job of that,” Crystal called back as she started moving towards the Magnus Trainer. Amy moved in step next to her, a confident smirk on her face. “What are you doing here? Are you trying to make the volcano erupt from the _inside_ now? Because that would kill you just as much as it would kill the people in Lavaridge and Fallarbor.”

The Magnus Trainer looked very nervous at that. “U-uh, w-we’re not doing that. Alpha said it was a bad idea, so it’s not something we’re gonna do.”

Crystal sighed in relief. “Good. But you’re still up to something, and it could be dangerous to the entire region. What exactly are you up to here?”

The Magnus Trainer hesitated again, then grabbed a PokeBall and yelled, “Go, Camerupt!”

Amy reared back a little, then suddenly lunged her upper body forward a little as a large Pokémon with two volcanoes on its back materialized. “Bubblebeam!”

The blast of bubbles hit the larger Pokémon right in the face, causing it to rear back and bellow in pain.

“Pull yourself together and use Lava Plume!” the Magnus Trainer barked. “Quickly! Aim for the Trainers if you have to!”

“I don’t think so!” Amy fired off another Bubblebeam, causing the Camerupt to roar in pain again and fall back, knocked out.

The Magnus Trainer gained a panicked expression as he returned his Pokémon, looking between Crystal, Amy, and Maxie with wide eyes. Then he turned and fled into the tunnel that was behind him.

Amy huffed and folded her arms across her chest. “Weakling.”

“We’re going to get the attention of the rest of the base on us, now,” Crystal warned. She looked over at Maxie. “Are you ready for this?”

Maxie nodded. “Ruby is no doubt here. I intend to face him again and see how well he can stand against my own Pokémon. Let’s go find him.”

Crystal nodded in response, then looked down at Amy for a moment before running into the tunnel after the Magnus Trainer, the other two following after her.

The tunnel led out into yet another cavern, this one larger than the last and clearly held multiple levels to it instead of just one. Stairs carved into the warm rock lead up to various floors and tunnels, which no doubt led off into different areas of the base.

“They must have an extensive network that not only works its way deep underground and around the volcano’s magma flow, but under Hoenn, as well,” Maxie noted. He sounded impressed. “There might be exits leading out from here to the Fiery Path or even into Meteor Falls. I’ll have to investigate this place more thoroughly later, if they don’t decide to cover their tracks and cave in the cave entrances. It would certainly be interesting to see how they would have managed to succeed in not making the sides of Mt. Chimney completely collapse.”

“You’re interested in what I did?” came a surprised, familiar voice.

Crystal, Maxie, and Amy turned their heads and looked up at one of the higher tunnels, catching sight of a familiar figure standing at the edge of one of the cliff-like protrusions coming from the walls.

“Interested, yes, but not because I plan on replicating it anytime soon for the purpose of building an elaborate Secret Base.” Maxie adjusted his glasses and motioned to the cavern they were standing in. “This is too much of a project, even for me and my Pokémon to be able to handle.”

“I-I know! That’s why I relied on machines half the time to take care of what I needed to get done.” Ruby motioned to the machines that were parked around the lowest floor of the cavern, close to the walls and out of the way of the tunnels. “I mean, some Pokémon just don’t have the finesse to be able to carve stone like this delicately. Melt it, though – that’s something else.” Ruby laughed, as though he’d just made a joke of some kind that Crystal, Amy, and Maxie didn’t quite seem to get.

“What are you doing here, Ruby?” Crystal asked, taking a step forward. “The Magnus Trainer at the entrance said that you weren’t going to make Mt. Chimney erupt. I hope for your sake that he was telling the truth.”

“Oh, he was.” Ruby nodded – perhaps a little too quickly. “The volcano’s not going to go off anytime soon, that’s for sure.”

“Then why do you have a base right next to the one landmark in Hoenn that could potentially cause a lot of people and Pokémon to die?” Crystal’s voice was starting to rise out of annoyance and most certainly stress. “I don’t think that Team Rocket would have even considered pulling a stunt like this!”

Ruby, Maxie, and Amy stared at Crystal with wide eyes.

“Did you just…compare us to Team _Rocket?”_ Ruby asked in alarm. “The very group that _made_ you?”

“I don’t consider those people my parents,” Crystal replied. “Not true ones, anyway. And yes, I just did – you’re starting to sink into a place that is far lower, and that makes you more dangerous than what it was that they were attempting. Creating a Pokémon that is the strongest in the world is one thing, but awakening two Pokémon that could more than likely go to war and destroy an entire region before spreading that destruction to the rest of the world? You have to be stopped before that happens. Tell me where the Orbs are and were Groudon and Kyogre are before you tear this world apart!”

Ruby blinked in surprise at that, wide-eyed and clearly reeling at least a little from Crystal’s exclamation. He shook his head a moment later and gained a frown. “Do you really think that I’m just going to hand the Orbs over without putting up a fight? This is what we’ve been leading up to – I’m not about to stop it now!”

“Sir! We’ve blocked off the tunnels that you asked us to!” A Magnus Trainer in the same outfit as the one Crystal, Maxie, and Amy had met at the door appeared through another tunnel at the same level as Ruby’s. “All we have to do now is wait for further orders, just like you said!”

“Blocked off what tunnels?” Crystal demanded, causing the Magnus Trainer to look down at her and let out a yelp of shock. “What is it that you’re up to?!”

“Not telling!” Ruby called back. “You’ve already done a bit too much with messing up what we’re trying to do – if you think that you’re going to be able to do anything here and now, you’ve got another thing coming!” He pointed down at Crystal with an accusing stare. “So there!”

There was a sudden flash behind him, and Crystal stiffened in surprise when she caught sight of the figure standing there – the same one that had been in Mossdeep not too long ago.

The two girls locked eyes for only a moment, and then the other Mewthree grabbed hold of Ruby’s shoulder and warped out of the cavern. Moments later, the same flash happened near the Magnus Trainer, but Crystal wasn’t able to catch sight of the other girl.

Maxie adjusted his glasses, blinking a couple times with a wide-eyed expression. “Who was that?”

“The Psychic-Type that Leaf mentioned before, and one that I’ve been hearing about over the course of my journey in this region,” Crystal replied, her eyes locked on where the Magnus Trainer had been a moment ago. “This is the second time I’ve been able to catch sight of her.”

“I see.” Maxie’s eyebrows rose.

A loud beeping noise suddenly came from Crystal’s backpack, and she swung it off in order to reach into the pocket the noise was coming from. She pulled out her PokeNav and flipped it open, blinking a couple times when she saw who was contacting her.

“Steven?” Crystal asked. “What’s going on? Did you manage to do that thing you were planning on doing?”

 _::I’ve managed to get a really good lead on that, and it’s part of the reason why I called you::_ came the reply. _::I’m calling everyone to Lilycove – there’s a hotel there that Maxie and Archie know. We’re going to be meeting there to discuss our next move. Do you think you can get here quickly?::_

“We can,” Maxie spoke up in reply.

 _::Good. I expect to see you here soon::_ Steven abruptly disconnected his end of the connection.

Crystal stared at the PokeNav for a moment, frowning. “I wonder what we’re going to be talking about when we get there….”

“Only one way to find out.” Maxie grabbed a PokeBall from his belt. “Come. I think that Latios friend of yours is still waiting for you near the hot springs. Climbing down Jagged Pass should be a far easier feat than climbing up it, so we should be able to get to Lilycove quickly.”

Crystal nodded. “Right.”


	71. Chapter 71

The hotel in Lilycove that Steven mentioned was smaller than most of the buildings in the city, but it was right on the edge of the cliffs to the south of the town and clearly was designed to be more homely than anything else.

“When you said that you were planning on using my hotel as a meeting place, you didn’t mention that this many people were going to end up making an appearance,” commented the dark green-haired man standing near the stairs on the main floor.

The large, gray-brown and white bird Pokémon with a tuft of red feathers sticking up from the top of his head nodded in agreement. “We didn’t think that the number of people resisting was actually going to be this big!”

“My apologies, Ray, but there wasn’t enough time to explain,” Steven replied as he and the rest of the group sat down around a large table that had been brought out into the middle of the floor. “And time is of the essence now.”

“What is it that you found out?” Crystal asked as Amy started prowling around the table. The Azumaril looked like she was considering sitting, but there was a scowl on her face as well – maybe she didn’t like the options that were open to her.

Steven lay a number of photographs on the table, clearly enlarged so that everyone could see them no matter where on the table they were. “There was a mural in the cave below Slateport that had more information on what t was that we were facing and more precise locations as to where the Legendary Pokémon might be sleeping.” He motioned to the pictures, which depicted people pushing a large, red monster of a Pokémon into a mountain that didn’t quite look right. Above them was a long green, snake-like Pokémon that almost seemed to be circling.

“What is that?” Kyle leaned over the table and stared at the mural with wide eyes.

“I’m not sure; the mural didn’t give any sort of hint as to what kind of Pokémon it could be,” Steven admitted. “However, I do know that the people here are putting this Legendary Pokémon – which I believe to be Groudon – in a place that they think no one will attempt to go after him.” He motioned to another mural, which depicted a large blue, white, and red Pokémon in a cavern of some kind, resting in a pool of water. “Kyogre seems to have been placed in the same sort of situation, in what I suspect is probably an underground cavern.”

“Both of them are in their own elements, but they’re not breaking out of them anytime soon.” Blue, who was sitting to Steven’s right, nodded thoughtfully. “Whatever sleep their under must have been set off by a pretty powerful Pokémon, if they haven’t woken up before now because of their environments.”

“That’s what the legend says,” Steven confirmed. “I have a good idea as to where the two Legendaries are, but we are going to have to move quickly if we’re going to be able to stop Team Magnus in time. I believe they’re going to try to release the two Pokémon at once.”

“At once?” Crystal’s ears stood up. “B-but then that’s going to set off their war all over again, right? That’s a _bad_ idea!”

“We know it is, but they might be disregarding the legend.” Steven looked over at Crystal with a dark expression. “If that’s the case, too, then we might still have time – we can rest here tonight and go after them the first thing tomorrow, but we’re going to need to have a plan first.”

“And know where it is that the Legendary Pokémon are sleeping,” Gold pointed out.

“I believe I already know where Groudon is located.” Maxie stood up from where he was sitting and pointed down at the picture of the mural that depicted Groudon being forced into the mountain. “If Groudon is the Legendary that is capable of creating more land, it stands to reason that he would no doubt be somewhere that would allow for the creation of more land – if it was allowed or forced to.”

“The volcano!” Crystal exclaimed. “That’s why they sealed certain tunnels off before that girl like me came in and took off with everyone!”

“Khrista.”

The group looked over at Aria, who met their gazes with a frown.

“What?” Archie raised an eyebrow.

“I ran into her when I was investigating the area up near Fortree,” Aria explained. “She thought that I was someone else – a girl named Maria, apparently. She only had enough time to introduce herself to me before she disappeared.”

“Khrista?” Kyle looked over at Crystal. “Her name sounds really close to yours!”

“Yeah, it does.” Crystal frowned, one of her ears twitching as she considered the name. “What about this ‘Maria’? Do you know of anyone who looked like you and had that name?”

Aria shook her head. “If there was, I probably would have heard about her – maybe because people would have mistaken us for each other. Something else must be going on here.”

“I still want to be able to meet and talk with her,” Crystal remarked. “Now that I know she has a name of her own, at least I won’t have to refer to her by species all the time.”

“Regardless, we are going to have to do something about Team Magnus and make sure that they aren’t going to be able to follow through with their plans,” Steven spoke up. “Mt. Chimney is probably where Groudon is, so Maxie and I will head back there tomorrow morning in order to find that Pokémon and keep Team Magnus from waking him up. The underground cavern where Kyogre is is no doubt in the trench that is located on Route 128. The submarine they stole must be making its way there – no doubt with Magnus members on board.”

“Wanna bet Sapphire knows Dive?” Archie muttered, scowling. “How are any of us going to get down there if we don’t have Pokémon that can—“

Steven dropped a dark blue disk on the table in the middle of the pictures of the murals. “Archie, you and Crystal will lead the team that will go underwater to the cavern that Kyogre is resting in. This is the HM for Dive; it should be useful to you.”

Archie’s jaw dropped. “Whoa!”

“And I do have the HM for Surf if anyone needs it,” Crystal spoke up quickly. She quickly reached into her backpack and pulled out the disk. “Amy already knows it, so I can ride on her, but she doesn’t know Dive yet.”

The Trainers present stared at the two disks, then at each other.

“Well, I definitely know which team I’m going on.” Blue swiped the Dive disk from the table and looked at it with a contemplative expression. “I wonder if these things actually work for people like me…well, only one way to find out!”


	72. Chapter 72

“All right. Are you guys ready for this?” Archie turned to face the rest of the group, a serious expression on his face and his arms folded across his chest. “Because there’s no turning back from here, and if you do want to turn back, I’m just throwing you overboard and you can try to swim back to Mossdeep by yourselves.”

“There’s no way that we’re turning back now,” Gold replied in a determined tone of voice. The others sitting on the back of the gigantic Pokémon that was Archie’s Wailord nodded in agreement.

“Let’s go find that cavern and stop Team Magnus,” Crystal said, nodding. “We’re ready when you are.”

Archie grinned widely at that. “All right!” He turned and leapt into a sitting position, landing on the head of the Wailord underneath them. “Let’s go!”

“Right, Captain!” came the bellowing response from the Pokémon. “Hold on!”

The entire Water-Type started rocking forward and backward, causing the group of Trainers to quickly scramble for something to hold.

Crystal quickly pressed down on the Wailord’s back. _“Gravity!”_ Instantly, the weight of the Trainers and the Pokémon increased, working like a glue that kept them in place as the Water-Type sank down into the waves more quickly than he had been at first. As the water started to rise up onto the Wailord’s back, it was met by an invisible resistance of some kind that caused the water to rise up in a large bubble over the entire group’s heads.

Crystal waited for a moment before relaxing the Gravity as the Wailord started to slowly descend into the water. She sat back and let out a sigh before she looked around at the water around them.

“Wow….”

The world was colored a bright, sparkling blue as sunlight streamed down through the water, leaving clear rays breaking into the world below the waves. Tentacool and the occasional Tenacruel swam past them, eyeing the Wailord and the group of Trainers on its back for a moment before moving on in a disinterested fashion. There were other Pokémon, as well – round, small Wailmer who almost seemed to bounce in the water as they swam past, large grins on their faces as they happily called to each other in loud, happy bellows.

“I haven’t been underwater before,” Crystal commented, looking around at the water above their heads. “I never thought that I’d be able to, actually.”

Blue chuckled from where he sat behind her, arms behind his head as he looked up at the large, bubble-like dome that was above their heads. “I can’t believe that I’m going deeper than I normally do. I got to see this every day when I was swimming around in Mossdeep. And now we’re going to go even deeper and see other kinds of Pokémon, as well.”

“There are other Pokémon that live even deeper in the ocean?” Crystal turned and looked back at her fellow Kanto Trainer.

“Yup. I talked to a few Swimmers who occasionally dove pretty deep into some of these crevices that are around here. There’s actually some Pokémon that might have lived for hundreds of years down here; the locals call them Relicanth. I haven’t seen one, though – it’s very hard to bring them up to the surface.”

“Huh.” Crystal blinked a couple times at that. “Hundreds of years old…I wonder what a Pokémon like that looks like….”

“We might just find out, considering how deep we’re going.”

The water was starting to become darker now as the sunlight started to fade; Crystal had heard that the light couldn’t reach the bottom of the sea, but she hadn’t thought that she would ever get to see it for herself. The Tentacool and Wailmer were far less frequent, too, and the Tentacruel were growing far more numerous, the red jewels in their carapaces almost seeming to glow.

Other Pokémon started to join them now – Chinchou and Lanturn from Jhoto apparently also swam in these waters, their antenna giving a glow that the sun wasn’t able to give at this depth. Darker, triangular shapes with glowing red eyes also swam with them. One got close to the Wailord, eyed the Pokémon and its passengers with a disinterested gaze, then turned and practically flew off into the darkness.

Crystal caught sight of a yellow star shape on the Pokémon’s back as it disappeared. “What was that?”

“A Sharpedo,” Archie called back. “They’re Water and Dark-Types; really ornery guys, especially the wild ones. If I’m going to get one, I’m going to start with a Carvanha and train it from there.”

Crystal shuddered a little. “They’re not very friendly, huh?”

“Well, they can get to be as loyal as any other Pokémon, but you have to prove to them that you’re someone they actually should listen to first.” Archie looked back at her. “A lot of hardheaded Pokémon are like that; Sharpedo’s just one of the harder ones to train, that’s all.” He turned to face forward again.

Crystal blinked a couple times at that, carefully considering each word that Archie had said while trying not to think of the Sharpedo as just a Dark-Type, noting that it was also a Water-Type and focusing more on that instead. “I’ve heard that Pikachu can be pretty hard to train, if you don’t manage to gain to trust pretty early on in your journey. The ones that live by the Power Plant in Kanto don’t like Trainers who catch them, while the ones in Viridian Forest are more curious about humans because they pass through the area so much.”

Ethan snorted from where he sat in Gold’s lap, looking annoyed and glowing softly with a Flash – the only source of light they had inside the puddle. “Oh, we still test humans if we’re from there, believe me. If they have Pokémon from some prof, we’re a bit more inclined to test them ourselves, but other than that?” He grinned. “We send them through the wringer to make sure they’ll stick with their Pokémon in thick and thin.”

Crystal’s tail twitched at that, a surprised expression crossing her face as Gold looked down at the Pikachu. “Really? And what did you do with Gold?”

Gold looked up at Crystal with a dry smirk on his face. “He stumbled into one of my empty PokeBalls by accident after I tripped over a root and it went flying out of my backpack.”

“That is _not_ how it happened!” Ethan barked up at Gold while Crystal collapsed into giggles. “And you know it!”

“Sure, right.” Gold rolled his eyes as Ethan glared at him.

Crystal giggled again and looked out towards the water outside of a bubble. Her eyes widened a moment later as she let out a gasp of surprise. “It’s so dark out there that I can’t see anything!”

“That’s because light can’t reach all the way down here,” Kara spoke up. “It gets to be so dark, Pokémon have to create their own light.” She paused, looking around. “It’s probably a bit _too_ eerie for Ghost-Types; they like to have at least some light to work with to make people and Pokémon jump.”

“How much longer until we hit the cavern, do you think?” Crystal turned to look at Archie again.

“Not far,” Archie called back. “My Wailord’s been following the trail of stink that the sub left behind; I think we’re nearly on top of it.”

“What makes you say that?”

“He looks like he’s going to sneeze from up here, that’s why. I’m going to have to let him circle around outside of the cavern a good distance from here in order to get it out of his nose.”

A strained rumble went through the Wailord, and Crystal nodded.

“Yeah, that makes sense. I hope this stuff disperses by the time we’re done here, or else we might not be able to leave.” Crystal frowned. “We won’t be able to swim up to the surface quickly enough without our Pokémon.”

“And considering the water pressure,” Blue added. “At this depth, if we tried to swim out there, we’d be crushed.”

Crystal and the others shuddered at the picture that Blue had just given them.

“Yeah, that’s not going to happen,” Archie commented shortly. “I’ll make sure of it.”

“Captain, I can see lights up ahead,” the Wailord rumbled. His voice sounded strained.

“Yup! That’s probably where the sub is. Try to get us into the cavern – then you can swim off and get that stuff out of your nose.” Archie patted the Pokémon. “And try to get the stuff dispersed, too – you’re our ride out of here.”

“Right, Captain.”

Crystal rose to her feet in order to get a better view of what was ahead of them, and blinked in surprise when she saw what looked like a couple bright spotlights that were embedded into the ocean floor, shining on an opening in one of the rocky walls of the crevice that Archie had directed his Wailord to swim into. “Why do you think they lit the entrance up like that? They’re all in there now, aren’t they?”

“They probably weren’t before.” Gold rose to his feet, as well. “Sapphire was probably sent back to plug up the Lilycove base and had to come down here by herself; she wouldn’t have been able to see the cave entrance without something there to let her know where it was.”

“Oh. That makes sense, I guess.”

Wailord brought himself close to the cavern and, after a moment, stuck his head through the cave’s entrance so that the bubble on his back partially opened into the room beyond. Crystal felt a rush of what was probably fresh air rush in and caused her hair to fly back a little.

“All right, guys!” Archie rose to his feet and turned to look at the rest of the team. “You guys ready to kick Magnus into next week?”

“Yeah!” came the resulting call from the gathered Trainers and Pokémon.

“Then let’s go!” Archie ran towards the cavern, the rest of the group following after him.

The inside of the cavern looked like it was only the start of a network of tunnels, only being a basic open cave that had a dingle tunnel that led deeper underground.

Leaf made a nervous noise as they stepped off the Wailord’s head, allowing the Water-Type to retreat quickly underwater again and out of the cave. “I don’t like this. There’s no sun.”

Al came over and clapped a hand on Leaf’s shoulder. “I don’t like it, either, but we’re going to have to do this. Are you going to be okay for now?”

Leaf hesitated at the question, then nodded slightly. “I-I think so.”

Al nodded. “Okay. Just stick close and everything will turn out all right.”

The group moved away from the entrance into the cavern and through the tunnel at the other side before stepping out into another large cavern…which had three tunnels branching off it.

“Looks like we might have to split up,” Blue commented, frowning.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Crystal looked at her fellow Kanto Trainer with a cautious expression. “I mean, we could end up running into Trainers that we might not be able to handle.”

“Which is why I was going to suggest that we split up in groups,” Blue replied. “Two or three at least – we can’t all travel together at once anyway; we’d be spotted by Magnus before we’d be able to get very far. We’re going to need to partner with Trainers who will be able to watch our backs, as well.” He turned to face the rest of the group, eyeing Gold, Archie, Crystal, Leaf, Eros, Al, and Kara in turn. “Choose wisely; we’re probably not going to run into each other again for a while after we leave from this point.”

The other Trainers looked at each other at Blue’s comment, appearing to be at least somewhat uncertain.

“I’m sticking with the ninja!” Kara moved closer to Eros, grinning. “If we’re going to go around and sneak up on Magnus morons, I want to be able to give them a good jump scare too.”

Eros raised an eyebrow at that, then smiled a little. “So be it. How good are you at walking without being heard?”

“ _Scary_ good.” Kara’s grin widened.

“I-I’ll go with Al,” Leaf said, looking over at the Bug Catcher.

“Sweet!” Al gained a wide grin.

“Which leaves us.” Gold turned to look at Archie, Crystal, and Blue as Amy stood behind Crystal with a guarded expression and Latios’ illusion flickered, startling Crystal a little – she’d nearly forgotten that he’d followed them down, considering that he’d been so quiet the entire trip. “We probably shouldn’t all travel as one group – four Trainers would get too much attention.”

“If it’s all right with you, I’d like to go with Crystal.” Blue nodded to his fellow Kanto Trainer, who stared at him in surprise. “I haven’t seen your fighting style properly yet, and I’m not about to travel with Archie, who is a Water-Type Trainer and probably wouldn’t benefit very much from my help.”

“And what about me?” Gold raised an eyebrow.

Blue paused at that. “Ah…I’m not completely comfortable with Electric-Types yet.”

Gold raised an eyebrow at that while Crystal sighed.

“Red’s Pikachu, Riley, zapped Blue when he and Red were younger,” Crystal explained. “That, on top of Blue being part Blastoise, has made him nervous around Electric-Types ever since.”

“Kind of like you you’re scared of Dark-Types?” Ethan asked.

Crystal frowned. “I was chased and scarred by a _pack_ of Houndoom who had been sent after me by Team Rocket – possibly to _kill_ me so that I didn’t end up anywhere near humans.”

“The only reason Riley ever shocked me was because I was teasing Red,” Blue admitted. “I was…kind of a jerk when I was younger. And I’m not scared to death of Electric-Types, I’m just…” He paused. “I get this sense of unease whenever I’m near one. The Lanturn and Chinchou around here are helping it lessen some, but it hasn’t quite gotten to the point where I’m absolutely willing to get an Electric-Type of my own yet.”

Gold and Archie blinked at that, then exchanged looks.

“Well, when you put it _that_ way.” Ethan let out a snorting noise.

“I’m all right with it.” Archie shrugged, then grinned. “Besides, either way I get to see one of you guys use a move or two. So let’s get this show on the road and take those Magnus morons out before they can destroy the world!” He threw a fist into the air and let out a battle cry.

“All right!” Blue grinned and looked around the cavern. “You guys be careful and watch your step – who knows what sorts of traps have been set in here for intruders – both us and Team Magnus. Ancient places like this aren’t meant to be disturbed easily. Just watch each other’s backs, take down Magnus Trainers, and solve puzzles where you can, and you’ll be fine.”

The others nodded in response.

“Let’s go!”

**Space Break**

“The tunnels past here were sealed off before – they were probably waiting for us to leave before they opened them up again and went to where Groudon is sleeping,” Maxie explained as he moved quickly through the tunnel. “They’re probably waiting down there now for some kind of signal to attempt to awaken the Legendary.”

“Then we don’t have much time,” Steven responded grimly. “For all we know, they could be starting the process now.”

Maxie quickened his pace as they exited the tunnel and entered another cavern – this one empty of any Magnus Trainers, just like the one before it. Most of the tunnels looked like they had been boarded up – except for one that was on the ground floor and seemed to be sloping downwards.

_Crack!_

“Ha!” Hiton stepped through a broken-down barrier, followed by Capone and a black and white Pokémon that had a curving blade-like horn on top of her head. “I told you we wouldn’t need any Pokémon attacks – these barriers are weak!”

“To someone like you, maybe,” Capone mutered. He looked around the room for a moment and caught sight of Maxie and Steven across the cavern. “Looks like the tunnels are converging here.”

_Crack! Crack!_

Two more barriers were blasted into the room, and Zack, Kyle, and Aria stepped into the room and slid down the wall from the floor above.

“Looks like we’re getting to the final part of the base,” Aria commented as her Swampert slid down the wall after her. She nodded to the tunnel that no one had emerged from. “Did you break that one open and go down it already?”

Maxie shook his head. “We just arrived here ourselves.”

“Groudon is most likely down that way, however,” Steven added. “We’re lucky that we all managed to meet up here so quickly – they most likely have their strongest Trainers waiting in there as a last line of defense, just in case we did end up finding this location.” He looked around at the group. “Are you all ready for this?”

Kyle gave the Hoenn Champion a thumbs-up. “Ready as I’ll ever be! Let’s kick these guys out of here before they jumpstart the end of the world!” He started towards the open tunnel, Maxie and Steven moving ahead of him and the others and entering the tunnel first.

Maxie gripped one of his PokeBalls and pushed his glasses up his nose. “Do you think that I’m going to have to make use of this?” He tapped the side of his glasses, causing a small, colorful stone that was embedded there to flicker in the light of the electric lamps that were embedded in the walls.

“Most likely.” Steven rubbed his fingers over a part of his suit where a similar stone had been placed on a pin and stuck through the fabric. “But save it only as a last resort; I doubt that they know that we know about it yet, and letting them push us into a corner before pushing back is a far better idea than having the same happen to us.”

Maxie nodded. “All right.”

The group stepped through the end of the tunnel and were instantly hit by a wall of heat that caused most of them to stumble – except for Maxie, who only paused. What _really_ caused him to stop short was what was in the cavern itself.

“No….”

**Space Break**

Crystal ducked as Blue blasted a Hydro Pump from his back at the Vigoroth, sending it flying back and slamming against the wall with a yelp of pain.

“Whoo!” Blue straightened up as the cannons on his back disappeared into his shell again. “I’m going to be drinking a lot of water when this is over.”

“Maybe you should hold off for now?” Crystal suggested.

“Yeah, maybe.” Blue looked over at the gray-uniformed Magnus Trainer, who was staring back and forth between his Vigoroth and the Kanto Trainer with an expression of alarm. “Think you can handle the next few that think that challenging the Trainer instead of the Pokémon is a good idea?”

“Sure. You haven’t been giving me too much of a chance to try things out, anyway.” Crystal rose to her full height as the Magnus Trainer quickly returned his Vigoroth and fled down the tunnel. “I think we’re getting close, though. There’s a…a pressure in the air. I’m not quite sure how to describe it.”

“A pressure?” Blue cocked his head to one side, considering that as his eyes glanced around the tunnel. “…actually, I think I can feel it, too.

 _“That is most likely Kyogre’s presence,”_ Latios spoke up from where he was hovering behind them. _“We must be getting close to where she is sleeping.”_

“Then they means we’re close to where most of Team Magnus is, too.” Crystal gained a determined expression and turned to look at the rest of her team, which was standing behind them. “Are you guys ready for this?”

She was met with a number of nods in response.

“All right. Then let’s go.”

Crystal led Blue and the Pokémon who had allied with her over the course of her journey out of the tunnel that they were in and into another cavern, this one with multiple tunnels branching off it. Already, Gold, Archie, Leaf, Al, Eros, and Kara were gathered there, looking at a tunnel that was on the other side of the cavern.

“There you are!” Ethan yelled at them from Gold’s shoulder. “About time you slowpokes showed up! Seriously, were you taking a nap in there or something?”

“No, we were just running into a lot of Magnus grunts,” Blue replied. He nodded to the tunnel that the others were standing in front of. “That’s it?”

“Considering it’s the only tunnel that none of us have come out of, yeah.” Archie nodded. “You guys ready to rock?”

Crystal and Blue nodded at once in reply.

“Let’s go stop these guys from ending the world,” Crystal said in a determined tone. She started walking towards the tunnel, Richie and Samuel moving to walk on either side of her as the others followed.

It didn’t take too long for the tunnel to widen into another cavern, but this one definitely felt different than the other ones that Crystal and Blue had gone through already. Instead of more tunnels or a puzzle to solve by moving boulders or working their way through strong currents, the cavern was covered in a low-lying fog that shifted around their feet and puffed up with every step they took. In the center was a large depression filled with water and the large form of _something_ that was gray-colored. In front of the water, and between Crystal and the Pokémon, there stood a lone, short man with fading blue hair that was put up in a style that almost seemed to be other-worldly.

The man turned when he heard Crystal and the others approach, and he looked over the small pair of glasses perched on his nose with an expression of interest. “Well well. I wasn’t expecting to have this many people follow us down here. The Mewthree, certainly, but the rest of you?” He chuckled, but there was a dark undertone to it that Crystal didn’t like the sound of.

“Who are you?” Blue asked as he stepped forward to stand next to Crystal. “What part of Magnus are you with?”

“Part?” The man shook his head, making a “tut tut” sound as he did. “Young man, I am far above the hierarchy that my young experiments have decided to put together on their own. Although, it is a shame that a few of you seem to have decided to defect.” He looked over at Gold and Leaf.

Leaf moved behind Gold, a nervous expression appearing on her face while Ethan’s cheeks sparked with electricity.

“You still haven’t told us your name.” Crystal frowned.

“Ah, of course.” The man gave a crooked smile and bowed slightly. “My name is Charon. I am the head scientist for Team Magnus, and the one who created every single one of the children you have faced so far who have abilities so similar to yours.” He looked at Crystal with an expression of interest. “Of course, I wasn’t able to mimic your abilities completely, considering that I only had part of the data from you and all the data from Mewtwo at my fingertips. It was easy enough to get that after I was called on to finish what that Gym Leader scientist they had hired began.”

Crystal’s eyes widened at that while most of the other Trainers and their Pokémon looked at each other in confusion.

“Y-you’re the one who made Mythos go on a rampage?” Crystal asked in alarm. Her voice was quiet and clearly shaken. “ _You_ did all this?!”

Charon seemed to only become even more amused at Crystal’s reaction. “Of course. Genetic manipulation has always been a hobby of mine, and when Blaine discovered a way to create human-Pokémon hybrids, I simply had to get my hands on the data and experiment. Team Magnus gave me the opportunity to do just that, and I’ve been on their payroll ever since. I have new projects now, too – it’s a shame most of you won’t live to see them.”

“What do you mean by that?” Blue frowned. “You’re not talking about the sleeping Legendaries, are you?”

“Oh, but in fact I am.” Charon patted his white jacket, and Crystal caught sight of a spherical lump beneath the fabric. “You are curious about what exactly our plan is for Kyogre and Groudon, are you not?” He chuckled, then gained a wide grin that made him appear crazed. “We are going to remake the world.”

Crystal’s eyes widened in alarm at that. “Remake the world…?”

“Indeed!” Charon raised his hands above his head. “Kyogre and Groudon shaped the world into the place we know it as today, fighting with each other over who could have more space for land and sea! Imagine the chaos that caused – blinding heat and sun at the same time as crashing waves and torrential downpours! The entire climate of the world would have been turned on its head!” His grin widened. “And that is exactly what I hope to see.”

“You’re insane.” Blue stared at Charon with an incredulous expression. “People are going to die if you let this happen! The entire world is going to be destroyed by this war that you’re going to let begin again by awakening Groudon and Kyogre! Don’t you realize that?”

“Oh, I realize it.” Charon lowered his arms. “And that is what I am hoping for.”

Crystal sucked in a breath sharply in alarm.

“You see, Pokémon themselves are quite resilient creatures indeed, but humans are fragile creatures that are unable to survive very well on their own for any length of time. If I was to awaken Groudon and Kyogre, no doubt the humans would die out far sooner than the Pokémon.” Charon paused. “However, if humans found a way to take on a Pokémon’s resilience by, say, genetically altering themselves, then they would be able to continue to survive into the next era, and the new world that the warring Legendaries would no doubt create.”

“You’re insane.” Blue shook his head. “Pokémon _and_ humans alike wouldn’t be able to withstand a war like that for long! Are you expecting it to be easy to control Groudon and Kyogre and make them create the new world that you want, and then go back to sleep like nothing had happened?”

“Perhaps. Then again, perhaps not.” Charon shrugged. “My point is, human-Pokémon hybrids are the next step in our natural pace for advancement. I might be able to live to see that day, but I intend to make sure that my experiments will be the ones to survive to the next era. Crystal, Blue, and possibly Red are more than likely to survive to this next era, as well, as they were the first, and I certainly hope that my contribution won’t be the last.”

“Red?” Leaf repeated in confusion, frowning.

“This is not how things are supposed to be.”

The humans and Pokémon present turned their attention to Crystal, who had her gaze focused on Charon.

“You can’t just change the world to your whims like some kind of…some kind of science experiment!” Crystal’s ears were flattened back against her head as her tail lashed. “Nature isn’t something that can be controlled so easily! You’re playing with something that is going to bite back! Mythos could have destroyed the entire world if he hadn’t been stopped, and we’re going to stop you from doing the exact same thing with different Pokémon! Stop before it’s too late to turn back!”

Charon raised an eyebrow at Crystal’s exclamation, not looking the least bit interested in her words. “Do you really think that I’m going to listen to a girl who only recently turned ten years old and is more willing to hide what she really is in order to fit in with the humans that are far beneath her?” He reached under his coat and pulled out a PokeBall. “You are not going to convince me with words, little girl. Convince me with your power! Wash!”

Charon tossed the PokeBall, and it exploded and released an orange washing machine of a Pokémon, which waved around the hose attached to the back in an excited manner as soon as it laid eyes on Crystal and the others.

“A Water-Type?” Blue asked in surprise.

“I’ve got this.” Samuel moved forward, rolling his shoulders and grinning. “I’ve got a new move I’ve been meaning to try!” He held his paws out, palms up, and suddenly there were a pair of large seeds in his hands that were glowing an ominous red aura. “Seed Bomb!”

The two seeds were thrown at Wash, who started to move to dodge them while making a noise that sounded like a crazed giggle. However, the attack hit its mark, causing the Pokémon to let out a screech of pain instead.

“What kind of Pokémon _is_ that?” Crystal dug her PokeDex out of her backpack and pointed it at Wash while Samuel prepared another salvo.

_“Rotom, the Plasma Pokémon. Its body is composed of plasma, and it is known to infiltrate electronic devices and wreck havoc. It can take control of certain machines and use them to move around and make mischief on the people who own them. Research on this Pokémon is ongoing, as scientists attempt to discover whether or not this Pokémon could possibly serve as a power source for a unique motor. Because of this Pokémon’s interesting makeup and abilities, it remains part Electric-Type, but it’s Ghost-Typing changes depending on what machine it is possessing.”_

Wash fainted with another screech, and Samuel jumped back with a triumphant grin as Charon returned his Pokémon with an annoyed expression.

“You cannot hide behind your team forever,” Charon warned. “I will see you use your power here! Heat!”

The next machine that appeared also let out a crazed giggle, opening and closing what looked like the door of a small oven repeatedly as it hovered above the ground.

Trisha moved forward. “I’ll take him!”

“Don’t use your Ground-Type moves!” Crystal warned. “It looks like these Rotom can Levitate!”

“Got it!” Trisha’s wings started to thrum at an even faster pace, and she slammed herself down into the ground suddenly as a glow of power surrounded her. “Rock Slide!”

There came a rumble from the cave roof above their heads, then a loud _crash_ as a large pile of rocks came slamming down onto Heat, causing the Pokémon to let out a screech that was similar to Wash’s as he was buried.

A moment later, a glow came from Trisha’s form, and she rose up onto newfound hind legs and snarled at Charon, who stared at her with a nonplussed expression as she flared her wings and lashed her tail.

“I am _not_ hiding behind my team,” Crystal said, frowning at Charon as the man returned Heat from under the pile of boulders. He looked at the PokeBall for a moment before replacing it somewhere under his coat; Heat must have been knocked out in one hit. “My team and I work together; we lend power to each other, can’t you see that? I may be part Pokémon myself, but that doesn’t mean that I have to fight on my own.”

“I can see the logic in that, but I don’t want you to use them as a _crutch.”_ Charon threw his third PokeBall, releasing a possessed refrigerator. “Frost!”

“Trisha, get back!” Crystal motioned for her newly-evolved Pokémon to get behind her as Frost threw open the fridge’s doors and sent out a blast of ice and snow in Trisha’s direction. “Protect!”

The glowing blue, aura-like barrier that blossomed from Crystal’s open hand stopped the Icy Wind short as Trisha retreated behind her Trainer.

“Oh ho!” Charon instantly gained an interested glint in his eyes.

Crystal looked back and scanned her team members quickly, taking in each one in turn as her ears flicked back to keep track of what Frost might have been doing. She locked her gaze with Ando. “Think you can take him on?”

“Easily.” Ando moved forward as Crystal let the Protect drop, and the glint in Charon’s eyes faded. He shifted into a defensive stance, clawed arms held out at his sides.

Frost danced around in the air, snickering at Ando. “And what do you think you’re going to do, huh? Slash me to pieces?”

Ando raised a foot, then slammed it down into the ground as he snarled, “Ancient Power.”

Boulders were suddenly launched up from the cave floor and were sent flying at Frost, who’s giggling changed to another screech as the rocks hit their mark and sent him skidding back towards the edge of the pool of water behind Charon.

“Help!” Frost managed to stop himself at the edge by digging the bottom of the refrigerator into the ground, only to tip forward onto his front. He giggled. “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up! Isn’t that hilarious?”

Charon rolled his eyes in irritation and returned Frost before looking at Crystal with an annoyed expression. “It’s clear that I won’t be able to get you to reveal your power to me. And, since you won’t….” He reached into his coat and pulled out a large orb that was about half as big as his head. It was a dark sapphire color, and there seemed to be something pulsing from deep inside it – almost like a heartbeat.

“No!” Crystal started running forward.

“Kyogre! Awaken!” Charon lifted the Blue Orb high above his head, then threw it down towards the sleeping giant Pokémon that was in the pool below.

The resulting backlash of power caused Crystal and Charon to be sent flying back; Crystal was caught by Trisha while Charon was grabbed by Ando, who held a bladed claw close to the man’s face and growled a warning.

“No!” Crystal pushed herself against Trisha and rose to her feet, staring in shock as the gray form of the large Pokémon in the pool started to turn a deep blue like the orb had been, blowing away the fog that had been in the cave in the process.

“KEEEEEYAAAAAHHH!”

The keening cry of the Pokémon caused Crystal and the others in the cavern to wince back as Kyogre threw her head back, revealing her white underbelly and a collection of bright red, almost runic markings that ran along her sides and over her fins. Then she leapt up into the air and dove down into the pool, disappearing from sight.

Crystal gasped, her tail standing straight up in alarm at the sight of Kyogre’s awakening. There was a clear sense of something in the air now – a wrongness that she didn’t like the feeling of. It crawled over her skin and left her feeling like she was sweating and freezing at the same time.

Ando growled. “Something’s not right.”

“No,” Blue agreed. He looked like he was gritting his teeth. “We need to get up to the surface – now!”

Charon chuckled, causing everyone to look over at him while Ando growled a warning at the old man. “It has begun. You’re too late to stop it!”

“We’ll see about that,” Gold replied. “Come on!” He turned and ran out of the cavern, the rest of the group following after him.


	73. Chapter 73

The world above the cavern looked just as bad as Crystal felt.

“The weather’s really going crazy!” Al looked up at the sky with expression of worry. He clamped a hand on the straw hat on his head as a cold wind blew past them, despite the heat that was coming down from the shy above them and causing them to sweat bucketfulls. “Is it supposed to be raining? Or really hot?”

 _“Not here at this time of year, and definitely not at the same time.”_ Latios looked around with a worried expression. _“Team Magnus must have succeeded in awakening Groudon as well. This does not bode well for Steven and Maxie’s team.”_

“This is bad,” Blue agreed, nodding. He shuddered. “It feels like something in me is trying to tear me apart.”

“It feels like the weather is at war with itself,” Crystal murmured worriedly. “We have to do something – there’s got to be something we can still do in order to stop the weather and get things turned back to normal!” She turned to look at Latios. “The green Pokémon that was mentioned in the legend – maybe he can help somehow? Do you know where we can find him?”

Latios blinked at the question as the others turned their focus on him, curious sparks in their eyes while Leaf, Crystal, Gold, and Blue looked at least somewhat desperate. _“I’m afraid that I can’t contact him personally – he is too powerful for me to be able to even consider attempting to enter his presence. However, he does come in contact with those who are considered worthy – but those humans have to be approved by those living in Sootopolis.”_

“Sootopolis?” Crystal repeated. “That’s one of the cities here in Hoenn!”

The wind howled, rushing past them in a mix of hot and cold as the rain continued to fall, freezing and burning against their skin. Crystal attempted to ignore it as she focused on what Latios had just said instead.

“Can you take us there?” Crystal asked. “I know that I haven’t traveled there on my own and that that’s how using Fly is normally supposed to work, but—“

 _“Considering the dire emergency we are presently facing, I believe that I can make an exception to that rule,”_ Latios replied with a nod. _“I can carry Amy and Crystal, at least – do you all have Pokémon that you can fly on?”_

Leaf fingered a PokeBall. “I do have a Tropius that hasn’t seen much battle yet. He could probably carry me and somebody else.”

“Peng’s big enough to carry me on his own.” Archie hefted a PokeBall and smirked.

“Ethan and I can fly without any problems,” Gold spoke up. He looked up at the sky as it fought between rain and sun and frowned. “In normal weather, anyway.”

“We flew from Hoenn to Kanto; this is nothing,” Ethan scoffed.

“I have a large Bug-Type who can carry me,” Al added.

“And I have a Poison-Type,” Eros said.

“I’m gonna need a ride!” Kara looked over at Leaf. “Do you mind?”

Leaf shook her head. “Not at all.”

“I know where Sootopolis is,” Blue spoke up. “I know how to get in from the sea; I’ll swim there and meet you when you land.” He ran to the edge of the partially-submerged rock they were standing on, then dove off the edge and into the frothing sea.

 _“Are you ready?”_ Latios asked.

Crystal nodded. “Let’s go.” She lifted Amy up onto Latios’ back with a telekinetic burst, causing the Azumaril to make a noise of surprise an annoyance. She jumped on a moment later as Leaf and Archie released their Pokémon – a Pelipper and a large, four-legged Pokémon with green leaves sprouting from its back as four large wings.

 _“Follow me!”_ Latios called as Eros released a large, purple bat with four wings – a Crobat – and Al released a large, butterfly-like Bug Pokémon – a Butterfree. _“And hurry – we do not have much time!”_

**Time Break**

Crystal leaned over Latios and Amy as they circled around the giant crater that was in the middle of Hoenn’s frothing sea. The pelting rain and shining sun reflecting off the water made it hard to see it, but Crystal was able to see it well enough. _“That’s Sootopolis?”_

 _“Correct!”_ Latios’ response was barely heard over the rainstorm – which was odd, considering that they were speaking using telepathy instead of vocal sounds. _“It used to be a volcano, many years ago. When it died, the people moved into the crater. It is also the site where Groudon and Kyogre fought, many years ago.”_

Latios lowered himself down into the crater, circling around the inner edge of the crater and past the houses that were carved into the gray-white stone walls. He approached the Pokémon Center at the base, flying over the water in the base of the crater before coming to a stop at the front of the building, where a small group was gathered already.

Crystal jumped off Latios’ back, looking at the group that was already gathered there with surprise as the rest of the group jumped off their flying Pokémon. “Steven! Maxie! What are you doing here?”

“It seems we had the same idea that you did,” Steven replied, nodding to Latios. “Groudon and Kyogre are making their way here, even now, coming through underground tunnels and underwater currents that even we can’t reach. We don’t have much time.”

“Do you know what we have to do in order to stop them?” Gold asked.

Archie dragged Charon off Peng’s back. “I really hope you have some idea, because this guy’s been cackling at the weather the entire flight here.” He pushed Charon in front of him, forcing the aging scientist onto his knees.

“Who is this?” A young man with sea green hair and an elaborate outfit stepped forward, looking down at Charon with an expression of curiosity.

“Magnus’ scientist,” Blue replied. “He’s the one who made Gold and the others. He even knew about me, Crystal, and Red.” He looked over at the man with a frown. “He wanted all this to happen.”

“Well of course I did!” Charon retorted. “If a new world can be created from the ashes of the present one, I want my creations to be the ones to live to see it!”

Steven frowned at that, his mouth stretching thin as his face gained a disturbed expression. “I see.” He turned to look at the man who had stepped forward. “Wallace, we need to hurry.”

The man – Wallace – nodded in response. “Yes, we definitely do need to.” He looked over at Crystal and blinked when he saw her Mew ears and tail, sopping wet from the rain. “You’re Crystal, I take it? I’m Wallace, the Gym Leader here, and a descendant of the people who originally moved into Sootopolis.”

Crystal gave a nod in response.

“All right. Steven suggested that you be the one to do this, and considering what I see in you, I’m inclined to agree – if the Cave of Origins accepts you, that is.”

“Do what?” Crystal frowned in confusion.

“Cave of Origins?” Gold repeated. “What’s that?”

“It’s a place only a chosen few get to enter. Considering that Crystal is not only a Pokémon Trainer whom I have heard cares greatly for her Pokémon and human companions, but is also part Legendary and in her own right could be considered Legendary herself because of what she is capable of, I believe that she has earned the right to at least enter the Cave of Origins. Whether or not the Cave will accept her and give her the power to help us find a solution quickly to our problem, that remains to be seen.” Wallace nodded to Crystal.

Crystal’s ears went straight up at that in surprise. “Wh-what? Give _me_ the power? A-are you sure that I’m someone that should be given that? Wh-what about Steven – or Blue? They’re more experienced—“

“Experience has nothing to do with it.” Wallace winked. “It’s what’s in your heart that counts. Now, come on – Groudon and Kyogre are no doubt nearly on top of us. This was where they were found and sent to sleep – of course they’re going to try and pick up right where they left off, and I’d rather not have more of my home destroyed than the world cold dare afford.” He turned and started up a set of stairs, then turned when he had gotten halfway up and motioned for Crystal to follow him.

“Go on,” Blue encouraged, putting a hand on Crystal’s back and pushing her towards the stairs. “You’ve got this.”

Crystal looked back at Blue in surprise at that, but when she saw the confident smirk that he was giving her, she hesitated for only a moment before nodding and following after Wallace. “Latios, Amy, come on!”

Crystal and the two Pokémon followed Wallace up and around one of the many cliffs that stuck out from the side of the dead volcano’s inner lip. She considered for a moment bringing out the rest of her team while they were moving towards what looked like a large cave near the back of the cavern, but the crazy weather with its hot and cold, rain and sun made her decide against it – maybe when they reached the cave itself.

“So, half Mew, right?” Wallace looked back at Crystal as they started to make their way down another set of stairs and towards the cave entrance that Crystal had spotted. “I had heard that Mew are merely myths. I suppose your presence means that they actually exist?”

Crystal nodded. “Yeah.” She paused, wondering if she should say that she actually _knew_ two Mew, but decided against it. “I haven’t let very many people know about it, though – before I came here, I mean. I don’t think all the Gym Leaders in Kanto and Jhoto know.”

“Really? That’s rather surprising. Considering how powerful and one of a kind you must be, the Gym Leaders are going to have to be at least somewhat aware of you.”

Crystal frowned. “See, that’s why I didn’t want to tell anyone about what I could do. If they learned about it, they could come after me. Here, I didn’t exactly have a choice because of Team Magnus and everything that they’re doing; they already have Trainers who are part Pokémon, and they knew about me, too, because they based Gold and the others off the data that Blaine had when he made me.”

Wallace’s eyebrows rose at that, and he made an interested noise as they reached the entrance to the cave. “And the people you’ve revealed yourself to haven’t attempted anything of that sort so far, right?”

Crystal nodded in response. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Then that means that there are some people who can be trusted,” Wallace noted.

“Yes, but I want to be sure that they can be trusted myself,” Crystal responded. “I don’t want to put my trust in someone, only to find out that they’re going to use me to their advantage.”

 _“I understand that quite well,”_ Latios said with a nod. Amy nodded in agreement.

“I suppose that would be a danger,” Wallace agreed. “And considering what is happening now, I do see your point.” He looked over at the cave entrance, then back at Crystal. “Now, have you actually _met_ a Mew?”

Crystal blinked at the question, her ears and tail twitching as she hesitated. “Uh—“

“It’s all right; I can tell you have.” Wallace smiled a little at Crystal’s surprised expression. “You have to learn how to lie a little better. Anyway, the reason I’m bringing that up is because the Cave or Origins has connections to that particular Pokémon. They are considered to be the ancestors of all Pokémon, after all, and are said to hold a great amount of power.” He motioned to the cave entrance. “This place holds a strange power to it that I believe you might be able to make use of in order to find a way to stop Kyogre and Groudon.”

 _“Me?!_ ” Crystal pointed to herself in shock. “Stop two rampaging Legendaries?! By myself?!”

“Not necessarily! There is another Hoenn Legendary who might be able to assist you, but the power that resides in the cave has to consider you worthy before I’m able to take you to where the third Legendary rests on occasion.” Wallace motioned to the cave again. “I’ll wait out here for you. Your Pokémon may accompany you, but otherwise you will be traversing the cave’s path alone.”

Crystal stared at Wallace with an apprehensive expression, then looked at Latios. When she met his determined red eyes, she blinked a couple times before nodding. “All right.” She turned to look at the cave entrance, then steeled herself and stepped into the opening in the rock wall.

Instantly, the sound of the rain outside lessened as Crystal, Latios, and Amy entered the cave. Crystal quickly released the rest of her team into the open when they had gone a few feet into the tunnel that started the cave off.

“Where are we?” Richie looked around at the cave and its walls. “Are we still in that cave under the sea?”

“No.” Crystal shook her head. “We’re in a different cave.”

“There’s a power here,” Ando murmured, frowning.

“Yeah. The last Gym Leader in the region that I haven’t battled yet – Wallace – said that I should come in here and have a look around before going to find the last Legendary in the region – one who might be able to help calm Kyogre and Groudon down.” Crystal paused. “I…I wanted you guys out so that you might be able to keep an eye out for anything that might seem important. So far there’s been nothing, though.”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Mike spoke up. “We might as well go in deeper, right?”

Crystal gave a slight nod. “Well, that’s the idea.” She paused for a moment, then started forward, deeper into the tunnel, the seven Pokémon with her following after her, looking around at the cave walls just in case Crystal might have missed anything that only her team would have been able to catch sight of.

The tunnel eventually widened out into a small cavern. Blue and red crystals were scattered around the room, giving off their own soft, pulsing glow that gave the cave a far gentler atmosphere in comparison to what was going on outside.

“Wow…” Crystal stepped into the cavern, followed by the seven Pokémon with her. “This is beautiful.”

_“That it is.”_

There was a soft flash from the center of the cavern – over a depression in the floor that looked similar to the one that Kyogre had been sleeping in, but without the water – and a small, blue-furred figure appeared, tail swaying this way and that in a lazy motion.

Crystal’s eyes lit up as soon as she caught sight of the Pokémon. “Catzin!”

“Who?” Richie asked in confusion.

“My brother – a blue Mew who helped me after I got away from Team Rocket.” Crystal gave the Gallade an excited grin before looking back at Catzin as he approached them. “What are you doing here? I thought that you only stayed in Cerulean Cave with Mythos, so deep in no one could find you!”

 _“You mean I can’t travel where I like?”_ Catzin gained an amused expression as Crystal ducked her head in embarrassment. _“Mew are known throughout the world, Crystal. We have our ways to travel to different regions quickly.”_

Crystal gave a small nod. “Right; I remember you telling me about that.” She frowned. “What are you doing here, though? Does it have something to do with Groudon and Kyogre?”

 _“Indeed.”_ Catzin floated forward and circled around Crystal and her team, nodding in greeting to Latios and Ando, who bowed as deeply as the Pokémon could. _“Have you heard of something called ‘Mega Evolution’ by the humans?”_

“Winona – one of the Gym Leaders – mentioned that she was considering using it when I fought against her in Fortree,” Crystal replied. She cocked her head to one side. “Why? Does that have something to do with this?”

_“Correct. Mega Evolution is the ultimate form of a bond between a Trainer and his or her Pokémon, but only certain Pokémon are able to take advantage of that energy using specific stones – Mega Stones and Key Stones, as the humans call them. They are not the only ones who have more powerful forms, however – there are other Pokémon who are able to take advantage of them, as well. Legendary Pokémon. Returning the Orbs to Kyogre and Groudon only started the process that will cause them to revert to their Primal forms – and they are dangerous forms to take on.”_

Crystal’s eyes widened at that. “Primal forms…? Oh no. They must be doing that now while they’re making their way here from Mt. Chimney and the cavern below the sea!”

_“That is so.”_

“But…there has to be some way to stop them, right?”

 _“There is.”_ Catzin nodded. _“You have been informed that there is another Legendary living in this region?”_

“Yes – the one that calmed Kyogre and Groudon the first time.”

_“He wasn’t able to do that alone. He had help from the humans of the region to reach a higher form than he has now. The first Mega Evolution that humankind ever bore witness to. He can achieve that form again, but he is going to need the assistance of someone with a strong and kind heart. I believe that you are someone who would be able to fill that position.”_

Crystal’s ears went straight up at that. “M-me? You’re sure? But I don’t even know how Mega Evolution works! How do you expect me to—“

_“It is completely instinctual, I assure you. You will know what to do when the time is right.”_

Crystal hesitated at that, blinking nervously. “Y-you’re sure?”

 _“Absolutely certain. However, because you are neither completely human, nor completely Pokémon, we don’t know what is going to happen when you attempt to focus on Mega Evolving Rayquaza, the only Legendary in the region who is capable of calming Kyogre’s and Groudon’s rages.”_ Catzin motioned to the crystals that were embedded in the rock. _“These stones act as natural amplifiers for the energy that is needed for the transformation. If your more human half is unable to carry itself and supply the energy on its own, the crystals will react accordingly.”_

“React how?” Crystal was starting to feel uneasy about what Catzin was suggesting. Not have enough power to cause Mega Evolution on her own? But it was just the bond between people and Pokémon that caused that, right? So what if she happened to also be part Pokémon?

 _“I am not entirely sure myself. There hasn’t been a situation like this before.”_ Catzin motioned for Crystal to step forward. _“Now, come; we don’t have much time.”_

Crystal swallowed at that, then looked at her team with a nervous expression. When Richie stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder encouragingly, she gave a nervous smile in response before turning to face Catzin again and stepped forward and down into the depression in the cave floor.

As soon as Crystal stepped into the depression, the red and blue crystals started pulsing with a soft, almost green glow that gave the entire cavern an almost eerie atmosphere.

Crystal’s ears flicked back a little at the sight, and she turned slowly in order to see the crystals. “What’s going on? Catzin?”

 _“Hmm….”_ The blue Mew circled around the depression, eyeing the crystals. _“They have changed to the color of the third Legendary in this region. It means that you do have enough energy on your own to be able to activate Mega Evolution without requiring additional energy from the world around you.”_

Crystal let out a breath that she hadn’t realized she’d been holding; her team relaxed, as well. “What now? Where can I find the Legendary?”

_“Rayquaza – for that is his name – resides on the top of an ancient structure to the south and west of here. The locals call it Sky Pillar. Speak with Wallace – he will lead you to the tower’s entrance.”_

Crystal nodded. “What are you going to do now?”

 _“I will remain here in Sootopolis to assist the people here. If the situation here proceeds to worsen, I will contact those who might be able to help at least contain the damage.”_ Catzin’s tail flicked towards the door. _“Now go. And good luck to you.”_

Crystal nodded again. “Thanks, Catzin.” She turned and started out of the cave. “Latios, do you know where Sky Pillar is?”

 _“I do, however it is impossible for me to be able to reach its highest-most point. There is a barrier here that prevents flying Pokémon from landing on the top of the tower.”_ Latios and the rest of Crystal’s team followed after her as she started back out towards the wind, rain, sun, and heat that were whipping around as a result of Kyogre’s and Groudon’s awakening. _“We will need Wallace in order to enter and speak with Rayquaza.”_

“Okay. How tall is it?”

_“It is considered the place where the earth meets the sky, and it is the only place where Rayquaza will land to rest. I believe that may be part of the reason why it is impossible for other Pokémon to land there.”_

“Sounds like we have a long climb ahead of us….” Crystal bit her lower lip in worry as her tail flicked back and forth. “I hope that we’ll get to Rayquaza in time.”

They stepped out of the cave and were instantly hit by the rain and sun, causing Crystal to wince at the constantly changing temperature that the conflicting weather brought with it.

“Well?” Wallace asked from where he stood next to the cave entrance.

“We have to go to Sky Pillar!” Crystal replied, raising her voice over a loud rumble of thunder. “Can you lead us there?”

Wallace blinked in surprise, then gained a more determined expression. “Of course I can! It’s not very far from here! Do you have a Pokémon with you that knows Surf and Dive?”

“Amy knows Surf, but I don’t have any Pokémon that know Dive. Latios can fly me out of the city, though!”

“Good! Meet me on the other side of the crater – we’ll travel by water from there!”


	74. Sky Pillar

_“That’s Sky Pillar?”_ Crystal leaned over Amy, doing her best to stay put on the Water Rabbit’s back as the waves roiled and foamed around them. The storm that was over Sootopolis hadn’t quite spread out this far yet, but it was clear that it was going to reach them soon if they didn’t hurry.

“Yes!” Wallace called back. He reached the small, rocky island and jumped off the back of the Pokémon he’d introduced as Wiscash, returning him as Crystal, Amy, and Latios reached the island themselves. “I can unlock the door for you and let you in, but from there you’re going to be on your own with your Pokémon.”

Crystal nodded, half listening as she looked up at the tall, stone tower that was in front of them. “I can barely see the top – it’s almost completely obscured by clouds.” She looked at Amy and Latios. “I’m definitely going to need your help getting to the top quickly.”

Latios and Amy nodded in response, determined expressions on their faces.

“Are you—“ Wallace cut himself off as large drops of water started to fall. “Oh, no…the weather has started to reach us. We’re going to have to act quickly.”

He quickly turned and faced the stone tower behind him – specifically, a large stone rectangle that didn’t look like it was going to budge. However, at Wallace’s touch, it fell apart and disappeared inside the tower, revealing a yawning entrance.

“Whoa….” Crystal looked between the entrance and Wallace with an expression of amazement. “How did you do that?”

“The people who originally lived in Sootopolis built this tower in honor of Rayquaza,” Wallace explained. “I am descended directly from those people, so I can open and close the door here as I see fit.” He motioned to the door. “Go, and hurry! If the weather has reached here, then we won’t have too much longer before it overtakes the rest of the region! I’ll meet you back at Sootopolis!”

“You’re not coming up with me?” Crystal asked in surprise as the raindrops started to fall in larger numbers.

“It has to be one person who gets Rayquaza’s attention; I can’t be the one to do it.” Wallace shook his head. “It has to be you, and you alone. Go!”

Crystal hesitated, but then Latios nudged her towards the door, and she nodded. “All right. Good luck getting back!” She turned and ran into the tower, Amy and Latios right behind her.

Inside the Sky Pillar, Crystal only paused for a moment to release her team and look around. “This place…we’re going to have to move quickly. It looks like some of these platforms are falling apart.”

“Look at those murals!” Richie pointed towards the walls, where large paintings seemed to have been decorating the walls. The paint had faded tremendously and chipped in some places, however. “I can’t even tell what they’re supposed to be showing on them!”

 _“It has remained untouched by human hands for quite some time,”_ Latios noted. _“This damage has been caused by wild Pokémon that no doubt moved here after the humans left this place and Rayquaza alone.”_

Crystal nodded. “Can you keep them off my back while I go up to Rayquaza?”

“You got it!” Richie raised a fist in the air.

“Then let’s move!”

Crystal took off up the stairs that circled around the inner wall of the tower, moving quickly but watching her step as she moved over cracked portions of stone and around parts where the steps suddenly developed holes, leaving behind places where people could fall onto the steps and floors below. She quickly left the ground floor and arrived at the next, finding collapsed pillars and large holes in the floor.

“Whoa!” Crystal came to a stop at the top of the stairs right before she could have run into a collapsed pillar. “Careful, guys! I don’t know whether or not this tower will end up falling down on our heads!”

“It won’t! We’ve made sure of that!”

Crystal looked up sharply as her team came to a stop around her. “An Ariados? I thought they were only native to Jhoto.”

“Just because we come from one place doesn’t mean that we don’t live in others,” the red, yellow, and purple spider Pokémon on the collapsed column replied. “What are you doing here, human-who-isn’t-quite-human?”

“I need to get to Rayquaza. Kyogre and Groudon are awake again!”

The Ariados hissed at Crystal’s words, stepping back along the column and appearing to be highly unnerved. “The storm whirling outside…I had thought there was something amiss! If you have been chosen, then…hurry!”

Crystal nodded, then motioned for her team to follow after her as she started across the ruin-strewn floor to the stairs on the other side leading upwards.

She looked up to see how far up the next floor was and winced. “Looks like we’re going to be climbing for a long time, guys.”

 _“I can make the time go by much more quickly.”_ Latios moved forward under Crystal, causing Crystal to slide back to the base of his neck. _“Everyone else, return – quickly!”_

Crystal’s team quickly returned to their PokeBalls as Amy leapt up onto Latios’ back. As soon as the Azumaril landed behind Crystal, Latios _shot_ up the stair at high speed, causing the murals on the walls to blur and become even more indecipherable. Crystal caught sight of Golbat and more Ariados scrambling out of their way as Latios continued to climb, screeching about the Legendary Pokémon’s presence.

Then a large, black, white, yellow, and red figure suddenly appeared in their path, causing Latios to come to a sudden halt.

Crystal jolted forward a little at the sudden stop and heard Amy curse under her breath behind her. “What just—“ She looked up and cut herself off when she saw the large Pokémon that happened to be hovering in front of them. “What kind of Pokémon is _that_?”

 _“Claydol,”_ Latios replied, half-speaking to Crystal and half to the Pokémon in front of them. _“Let us pass. We need to speak with Rayquaza.”_

The giant Pokémon didn’t move, although Crystal couldn’t shake the feeling that it was still watching them through the band of red circles that seemed to go around its head.

Crystal leaned forward a little, moving slowly in case the Pokémon reacted suddenly. “Do you know if it’s even awake?”

“It’s hard to tell with these guys,” Amy replied from behind Crystal, keeping her voice low. “They’re more like machines than anything else. I mean, the humans say that they used to be giant clay figures that were suddenly brought to life. I don’t know if I believe that or not, but those things are _definitely_ creepy.”

The Claydol jolted suddenly, causing the trio to stiffen as it turned more to face them more directly. _“Scanning…Identified: Latios. Scanning….Identified: Azumaril. Scanning…unidentifiable life form detected. Identify yourself.”_

Crystal’s ears twitched at that as she frowned. “Crystal Soul the Mewthree.”

_“Identification created. Searching database…match found. Crystal, relation of Mew and Mewtwo. State reason for visit.”_

Crystal shifted her position on Latios’ back. “Groudon and Kyogre are awake again. We need Rayquaza’s help to calm them down.”

_“Response recorded. Situation beyond Sky Pillar confirmed. You may pass.”_

Latios started moving forward.

_“Only Crystal Soul may pass.”_

Latios stopped short at that.

“Only me?” Crystal repeated, her tail flicking. “Why?”

_“Only you are allowed. Lord Rayquaza is expecting you.”_

Crystal blinked at that, appearing uncertain. Then she nodded slightly and slid off Latios’ back. “And my team?”

_“Leave them here.”_

Crystal paused for a moment, her hands hovering over the five PokeBalls at her waist. Then she nodded and let her team out.

Samuel took one look at the Claydol and instantly moved into a fighting stance. “Are we fighting this guy?”

“No!” Crystal moved quickly between the Breloom and the giant Pokémon. “He’s…I guess he’s some kind of gatekeeper for Rayquaza.”

Samuel paused at that, then slowly relaxed as Richie moved forward.

“You mean that the Legendary’s behind him?” the Gallade asked.

Crystal nodded. “But I have to go on alone. I can’t bring you guys with me for some reason.”

Mike made a whining noise by her feet. Trisha made a buzzing noise of disapproval that either sounded like it came from her wings or her mouth.

Ando looked up at the Claydol with an analyzing expression. Then he took a step back and nodded. “I will wait.”

The other Pokémon looked at each other at the Armaldo’s statement, then they stepped back and away from the Claydol as well.

“I’ll be back,” Crystal promised. _I hope._

She turned to look at the Claydol, then took in a breath to steel herself before she started walking forward. The giant Pokémon drifted to one side, revealing a small, open doorway that opened out onto the roof of the tower.

As soon as Crystal stepped through it, she was hit with a blasting, howling wind that sent chills down her spine and out through her tail as her ears collapsed against her head to keep the whistling shriek out of her ears. Her breath came in short gasps as she tried to get oxygen into her lungs, but the air was so _thin_ and she was exposed to the harsh sun as she was at the same level as the tops of the clouds that it was extremely difficult for her to remain standing.

She was about to collapse onto her hands and knees when the air suddenly stopped moving and seemed to change; a few deep breaths later, and Crystal had more of a headache than a light-headedness, but that passed shortly, as well.

There came a low growling noise from somewhere, causing Crystal to stiffen in alarm and whirl around quickly in order to find the source of the sound.

Right behind her, on a platform above the doorway that she had just stepped through, was a _huge_ green, dragon-like Pokémon that was coiled in on itself. The head alone was bigger than Latios, and strange, almost runic yellow circles ran down the creature’s entire length.

And the Pokémon had an eye open and was looking at her with a curious expression.

Crystal swallowed, feeling the white pinprick-on-black focus on her as she looked back at the Pokémon with wide eyes. “R-rayquaza?”

There came a rumbling noise that sounded like a muffled growl from the Pokémon. _“For what reason are you disturbing my rest, child?”_

Crystal blinked in surprise as the dragon’s voice rumbled n her head, then shook her head; of course the Legendary would be able to use telepathy. She fixed her eyes back on the dragon. “Kyogre _and_ Groudon are awake and are causing Hoenn to fall into chaos! We need your help to stop them and calm them down! Please!”

Rayquaza blinked at that, then raised his head and looked up at the sun as the wind tried to pick up again, only to die down abruptly. _“There is something strange in the air…I have been slumbering under my Air Lock for too long.”_ He started to uncoil, rising up and making Crystal lean back in order to be able to continue looking at the face of the giant Legendary. _“I assume that you did not come alone?”_

Crystal shook her head. “My Pokémon team is waiting just inside the doorway here; the Claydol didn’t let them through.”

Rayquaza slammed his tail down on the roof under him, causing the tower to shake. Crystal’s team spilled out of the open doorway a moment later and quickly gathered around her and looked up at the large dragon with expressions of fear and caution.

“Guys, it’s okay,” Crystal said quickly, getting their attention. “Rayquaza’s not going to attack us…right?” She looked up at the dragon Legendary nervously.

 _“No. You have awakened me in a time of need; I see no reason to do you harm.”_ Rayquaza lowered his head to the ground in front of Crystal and her team, causing the Pokémon to step back quickly. _“Climb on, Crystal – return your team; I do not wish to see them lost.”_

Crystal blinked in surprise at that. “U-uuh…”

 _“Go,”_ Latios said quickly. _“Amy and I will follow after you to Sootopolis. And hurry!”_

Crystal looked uncertain at that, but when she saw she looks on her team’s faces and nodded. “All right.”

Richie, Ando, Samuel, Trisha, and Mike returned to their PokeBalls, and Crystal turned and looked up at Rayquaza’s head. She took in a breath and jumped up, relying on her Psychic abilities to guide her momentary flight path so that she could land on the Legendary’s head.

 _“Let us go,”_ Rayquaza rumbled.

**Space Break – Somewhere Underground, a little bit earlier**

“Are you sure this is going to work?” Archie asked, looking at Steven with a concerned frown. “Because it sounds like these things were sealed away for a reason.”

“We have to keep the chaos contained as much as possible, and the weather is only going to fluctuate even more when Rayquaza gets involved in what is happening in Sootopolis,” Steven replied as he made his way deeper into the cavern. “I’ve managed to find a place where the three sealed caverns manage to connect; I’m going to need your help in waking them up.”

“…are you really sure about that? I mean, you’re the Champion! I’m just some kid!”

Steven stopped and looked back at Archie, who had an uncertain expression on his face. “You are not just ‘some kid,’ Archie, judging from what I’ve seen of you and your battling prowess. Your ability with Water-Types is one that I believe will rival that of Juan’s and Wallace’s, if given the opportunity to grow even more than it already has. And this should prove to be an excellent challenge.”

Steven and Archie stepped out of the tunnel and into a large cavern with three sealed stone doors. Each one had a strange symbol carved into its surface: six dots arranged in different patterns.

Steven moved to the door in the right. “Make your choice, Archie.”

“Which one leads to which?” Archie looked between the two, wide-eyed.

“The one in the center goes under the desert. The one on the far left leads under the sea.” Steven looked back at Archie with an excited glint in his eye. “Do you want the easy path? Or do you want a challenge?”

Archie blinked slowly at that, not quite looking like he was completely comprehending what Steven was saying. Then he gained a more determined expression and nodded before he started towards the door on the far left. “How do we get these things open?”

“The golems should sense our presence and, if they decide we’re worthy, they’ll open—“

_\--rrrrrRRRRUMBLE—_

“Whoa!” Archie stumbled, trying to keep his balance as the cavern shook for a moment before the two doors they were standing in front of opened slowly, sinking into the cave floor and disappearing from sight.

“Excellent.” Steven grinned as the rumbling subsided. “Time to face the Golems.”

**Space Break**

“Hmmm….” Charon tapped his chin, frowning as the wind and rain battered at the window, broken at random times by bright, harsh sunlight that made him appreciate the glass between him and the outside world -- as well as the shade.

The excited thrill that he once had when Kyogre and Groudon had been initially awakened was muted now for some inexplicable reason. Charon wasn’t exactly sure why, but now he was feeling a sort of…unease.

“The rain and the sun…what is it about them that is leaving me feel so chilled?” Charon murmured to himself. “This is a great day for us! The old world will end and the new world will begin! Why is it that I feel as though I may have done something disastrous?”

The figure standing in the back corner of the room and as far away from the window as possible said nothing, although her twitching tail and ears seemed to hint at something that was going on in her head. The gold collar at her neck glinted with a sinister light.

Charon turned and looked at her. “You are with me until Alpha returns. Tell me: how much of there is a chance that my chosen will live to see the new world?”

“You should ask how much of a chance you have of your new world happening,” came the reply. The voice was tired, but not _annoyed_. Instead, she seemed to be amused somehow.

Charon frowned. “And what are you insinuating by that?”

“There’s a greater chance that you’re gonna fail than this new world of yours happening.” A slightly-crazed grin stretched across the girl’s face. “You completely forgot about Rayquaza.”

Charon stared at her with a disbelieving expression, then snorted. “Rayquaza is a mere—“

A loud roar that almost sounded like a screech suddenly blasted through the air, sounding clear and loud despite the fact that Charon was standing inside a building with thick walls and thicker windows. The window he was standing near _shook_ as the raging weather outside faltered for a moment.

“Myth?” the girl finished. “I don’t think so.”

Charon’s shocked expression at the noise quickly changed to one of annoyance as he gritted his teeth and glared at the girl. “Why didn’t you mention this to Alpha?!”

“He never _asked_ me about what I knew about the Weather _Trio_ , so I kept it to myself. Like I was going to help you just because of this thing around my neck.” She tapped the collar around her neck. There was a note of triumph in her voice.

“You were expecting this.”

“I was. It’s happened on other worlds; I don’t see why it won’t happen here. It’s a pity I’m not in Sootopolis to see which Trainer got Rayquaza’s attention.” The girl chuckled darkly. “I’d give ‘em a pat on the back.”

Charon felt as though there was steam coming out of his ears. Then he forced himself to calm down, taking deep breaths and forcing his shoulders to relax. A small, twisted smile crossed his face. “You will not speak any further until the new world is created. Even if we are to be stopped now, I am more than certain that we will find another way to change the world.”

The girl winced as the gold collar glowed brightly for a moment. She sent Charon a sour look in response, but said nothing.


	75. Problem Solved

Crystal leaned forward on Rayquaza’s head, keeping her eyes shut tightly against the wind that was thrashing against her as a result of Rayquaza’s quick flight.

 _“The spread of this weather…have Kyogre and Groudon been awakened with the Blue and Red Orbs?”_ Rayquaza rumbled.

 _“They have!_ ” Crystal felt as though her mental voice was barely heard over the sound of the wind and the rumbling thunder that was below them. Occasionally, the clouds broke quickly, but then they reformed in a matter of seconds. _“I was told that you could Mega Evolve and take them on, but I’m not sure how!”_

_“Then the situation is most grim indeed. And you, a Trainer and Pokémon both, do not know of what Mega Evolution does?”_

_“I haven’t even seen it done. I have heard people speak of it, and I’ve been told I_ can _do it, but….”_ Crystal trailed off, nervous.

_“It is simple and difficult. You must focus your power through a connection with the Pokémon. As you do not have a Key Stone to focus this power through and we have only just met, you have an even more difficult job in front of you.”_

_“…Key Stone?”_

_“An item most Trainers rely on. However, all that is truly required is a sense of a connection.”_ Rayquaza paused. _“I do not know if it will be needed, however – we are on top of Sootopolis now, and Groudon and Kyogre do not seem to have reached their Primal states as of yet.”_

 _“Primal?”_ Crystal dared to look over Rayquaza’s head as he positioned himself over the top of the dormant volcano that was Sootopolis – probably the only place in the sea of clouds that remained clear. She stiffened in alarm when she saw that there were two large Pokémon in the water at the bottom of the volcano.

One she recognized as Kyogre, but there was a clear aura of power around the Pokémon that hinted that something was going to happen to the Legendary soon.

The other…was what looked like some sort of red Tyrannitar, with large claws and a huge tail that had claws on the end. The other Legendary – Groudon, Crystal guessed – also had an aura of power that hinted at something as well.

_“You got me just in time. Hold on tight, and cover your ears!”_

Crystal barely had a second to respond before Rayquaza suddenly shot down in a steep dive towards Sootopolis, forcing her flat against his head with a squeak of surprise that almost forced all the air out of her lungs in the process.

Kyogre and Groudon looked up as the giant green Dragon Legendary dove into the crater and circled around them sharply before ending up between them, glaring at them both. Then he reared back his head and let out a sharp, loud cry that caused the entire dormant volcano to shake and everyone within fifty miles to cover their ears and wince at the strength of the Hyper Voice.

Kyogre and Groudon reared back at the sound, then started to growl in response only to get whacked in their faces with Rayquaza’s lashing tail.

The dragon Legendary let out another bellow, and the aura that surrounded Kyogre and Groudon faded as Latios came over the top of the crater with Amy on his back. The Psychic-Dragon looked exhausted, and his flight almost seemed to stumble as he down to land on the small island that was near the center-back of the crater.

 _“You two have a lot of explaining to do,”_ Rayquaza growled warningly. _“Fix this mess, or I will Dragon Ascent you both into the moon without a second thought!”_

Kyogre and Groudon exchanged looks around Rayquaza at that; Crystal lifted her head slightly and caught sight of what almost seemed to be a nervous glint in the two Legendarys’ eyes.

Crystal blinked a couple times to make sure that she was seeing things correctly. The Pokémon of land and sea were scared of the Pokémon of the sky? If _that_ was true, then what kind of power did Rayquaza _have?_

Kyogre seemed to grumble something underwater, large bubbles coming up as a result. The Legendary’s fins slapped against the water, sending up a large spray that splashed against the walls of the dormant volcano. A moment later, the rumbling of thunder subsided, and the clouds above their heads dispersed, revealing the harsh sun above their heads.

Rayquaza then turned his glare to Groudon, who ducked his head in response to the look and slapped his tail against the rocky platform that he was standing on. In response, the sun’s glare lessened to something far more bearable.

Rayquaza nodded in approval. _“Good. Now, your Orbs.”_ He held out his two clawed hands. _“At the same time. On three.”_

Groudon and Kyogre both shifted uncomfortably at that, but another glare from Rayquaza caused them both to reveal their Orbs: Groudon’s Red Orb was sitting in his left claw, and Kyogre’s was on his right wing.

_“One, two….”_

Crystal reached out with both hands, focusing on her telekinesis as she tried to watch both Orbs at once as they were lifted away from the two Legendarys and started hovering over to Rayquaza’s outstretched claws. Rayquaza shifted his claws’ position so that Crystal could see them and let the Orbs land in them, rather than drop into the water below.

 _“Thank you, Crystal,”_ Rayquaza rumbled. _“Now, since you two chose hiding places that were_ too easy for humans to find and exploit, _you have two options: go back and sleep, or find yourselves Trainers who can keep an eye on you properly and curb your violent tendencies.”_

 _“Trainers?”_ Groudon’s voice came out as a low, rumbling growl. _“You mean the humans?”_

 _“Impossible,”_ Kyogre responded in a feminine tone. _“The sea is not something which can be controlled.”_

Crystal’s ears twitched at that, and then she heard the flapping of wings a moment later and lifted her head just as a familiar Pelipper came over the edge of the crater.

“Of _course_ Steven didn’t tell me the damn thing was an Ice-Type!” Archie yelled in frustration. “He could have _warned_ me that one of the Guardians was an Ice-Type! At least I got to release it when—whoa.” He cut himself off and stared at the three Legendary Pokémon that were in the crater, Peng stopping short and remaining in mid-air in front of Rayquaza. “Uh…..”

“An Ice-Type?” Crystal repeated, causing Archie to look up to the top of Rayquaza’s head. “What were you and Steven doing?”

Archie shook his head, quickly regaining his bearings. “He found these golem Pokémon and decided to use them to help keep the weather in one place or something. I helped him out, but as soon as everything was said and done I got rid of the Ultra Ball for that Regice. And I am _not_ going back for it.” He looked around at the three Legendarys that were in the middle of Sootopolis. “Nice job getting them to calm down! At least that Charon jerk isn’t gonna get the last laugh. I’d like to see him try now that Rayquaza’s around!”

 _“Charon?”_ Rayquaza prompted.

“The man who made Mythos go crazy,” Crystal murmured in reply in worry. “There’s something not quite right with him.”

 _“Hmm…I see.”_ Rayquaza’s tone was grim.

“Yeah, and I’d like to knock him over the head for causing all this trouble in the first place.” Archie grinned. “Luckily, we’ve got him—“

“He’s gone!”

Maxie’s yell from below caused Archie to cut himself off.

“He’s _what?!”_ Archie quickly tapped Peng on the head, and the Pelipper flew around Rayquaza to the island at the back center of the crater. “Since when?! We had him when we came out of Kyogre’s hiding place!”

“Well, he’s gone now,” came Maxie’s grim reply. “He must’ve disappeared somehow in the chaos from the weather going insane; how, I don’t know.”

Crystal’s ears flicked back. “Oh no…I hope it wasn’t Khrista.”

Rayquaza inclined his head a little, but not enough to cause Crystal to slide off. _“He must be found, before he does more damage to the world than what he nearly caused here.”_ He paused. _“Humans, what are your names?”_

Crystal pushed herself back up into an upright sitting position as Archie responded, “I’m Archie.”

“And I am Maxie!” Maxie called up from below.

 _“Archie and Maxie. Interesting names.”_ Rayquaza’s body coiled and uncoiled a little, his head remaining still as Groudon and Kyogre exchanged looks around the dragon. _“Your auras feel as though they should be clashing, but they are not. I find this intriguing.”_

“Uh….” Archie sounded uncertain at that, like he didn’t exactly know what to make of what the Legendary had just said. “Th-thank you, I guess?”

Crystal blinked, absorbing what Rayquaza had said. Was the Legendary going somewhere with this?

 _“I don’t know whether or not you will be thanking me after this,”_ Rayquaza replied. _“Your auras match with these two troublemakers quite well. How would you feel about keeping an eye on them and preventing something like this from happening again for quite some time?”_

Crystal’s eyes widened sharply at that; at the same time, Kyogre and Groudon instantly protested.

 _“Are you serious?!”_ Groudon demanded. _“Leaving our lives in the hands of mere – mere human infants?!”_

“Hey!” Archie barked, glaring at the large red Legendary. “We’re teenagers, not babies! And if you think that you can just go ahead and ignore us, you’ve got another thing coming! I’ve got a Wailord who knows Water Spout, and there’s no way that he’d be afraid to use it on you!”

“And I have Pokémon that, although they may be physically weak to the both of you, have moves and strategies that can immobilize you and knock you out far more easily than if you were to attack each other,” Maxie added. Crystal turned her head when she noticed that his voice was closer and blinked in surprise when she saw he was on the back of a large orange, black, and white bird. “If you think that we are weak simply because we are unable to fight on our own, you underestimate our ability to bond with our allies and assist Pokémon in growing stronger as a result of that.”

Rayquaza made a low rumbling noise of approval in response to Maxie’s statement; Crystal felt his entire head vibrate and the vibrations traveled up her spine, causing her to shudder in surprise in response.

 _“Are you challenging us, boy?”_ Groudon snarled.

 _“We are wild forces of nature,”_ Kyogre growled. _“We cannot be contained, and we cannot be tamed.”_

“I am not suggesting that you ever can be,” Maxie replied.

“But yeah, we’re challenging you.” Archie grinned widely. “Kyogre, you’re gonna be on my team! I’ve been looking for a strong Water-Type to do Double Battles with my Wailord, and you might just fit the bill!”

 _“We shall see. If you plan on fighting me, you must first come find me.”_ With that, Kyogre submerged, disappearing from sight under the water.

Groudon slammed a foot into his rocky platform, causing it to expand suddenly and open into a tunnel that led under the water. _“If you think your so-called ‘strategy’ is capable of defeating me, then I would like to see your strategy in finding me.”_ He stomped down into the tunnel, which collapsed behind him and caused the rocky platform to collapse into the crater, leaving no sign that he had ever been there.

“…did we just get challenged by two _Legendarys_?” Archie asked, turning to look at his brother.

“It certainly seems like it,” Maxie agreed. He looked at Rayquaza. “And you, Rayquaza? Are you going to be searching for a Trainer as well?”

 _“Perhaps. Sky Pillar is now open to any who wish to climb its steps and seek me out, but only one will be allowed to leave with me as their partner.”_ Rayquaza turned slowly, then lowered his head towards the island that Latios had landed on, allowing Crystal to slide off. _“For now, however, I intend to see if Groudon and Kyogre caused any permanent damage. Finding this ‘Steven’ and see what he has done in regards to the Guardians that Archie spoke of. Find this Charon, if you can. If he is capable of causing chaos here, who knows what chaos he can cause in other regions, as well.”_

Crystal nodded in agreement, her mind instantly going back to when Mythos had destroyed Celadon and had to be restrained by Arceus himself in order to be stopped.

 _“Good luck. The world has changed its climate as a result of the actions here; it will take some time for Pokémon and humans alike to adjust.”_ Rayquaza rose up and away from the base of the crater, then shot up into the sky with a strong blast of wind that caused the water to ripple outward in small waves.

Gold came over to Crystal, wide-eyed. “You rode on his _head?”_

“Uh-uh…yeah?” Crystal blinked at him. “It was kind of the safest place to be. Why?”

“If you’d been on there when he’d released a Dragon Pulse or something, you could have been hit with the energy backlash,” Ethan replied from Gold’s shoulder. “Rayquaza wouldn’t have felt it because it’s _his_ energy and he can defend himself against it, but you?” He leaned forward on Gold’s shoulder. _“Have_ you fought against a dragon by yourself before?”

Crystal’s eyes widened at the implications of Ethan’s statement. “U-uh…not really? I mean, I’ve helped train Dratini, but I haven’t sparred against anything stronger than Level 35….”

“Yeah, you would’ve been hurt,” Ethan said flatly.

“Guys! Something’s going on!”

Crystal’s ears swiveled at the sound of the voice from above their heads, and she looked up as a Swellow flew down and landed next to her and Gold. “Brendan? Where’ve you been – are you guys okay?”

“What’s going on?” Archie landed on the island, Maxie following suit as the rest of the group of Trainers who were gathered on the island gathered together.

“I’m shaken, but fine,” Brendan replied. “Do you guys know what happened with the weather?”

“Legendarys,” Archie, Maxie, Crystal, and Gold replied together.

Brendan’s eyes widened. “What – are you serious? There were Legendarys _here?_ ”

“Here and gone,” Crystal replied. She frowned. “But why’d you fly in, Brendan? Is there something else going on?”

“Is it Magnus?” Leaf spoke up worriedly.

“Maybe? I saw a couple islands out there that weren’t there before.” Brendan pointed towards the top of the dormant volcano’s crater. “They look like they’ve been there a while, too – there’s no way that the weather going crazy could have uncovered them.”

“Ah.” Wallace stepped forward, causing Crystal and the others present to look at the Gym Leader in surprise. “Mirage Islands are starting to appear? Are you sure?”

“Mirage Islands?” Crystal repeated in confusion.

“Strange places on the outskirts of the region that appear and disappear at random,” Wallace explained. “They have Pokémon on them that don’t live anywhere else in the region, and you can’t always find the same one. Some aren’t guaranteed to be able to find any at all, and it’s said you can’t find any on purpose, either.” He tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Kyogre’s and Groudon’s awakenings must have caused the climate around the region to chance and caused some of the Mirage Islands to appear as a result.”

Crystal frowned. “Hmm….” Her eyes widened. “Wait. The Mirage Tower in the desert! There were maps on the walls of Hoenn with extra islands! Those must’ve been the Mirage Islands!”

“Perhaps,” Wallace agreed easily. “I should think that you knew about them at least in some form, Brendan.”

Brendan blinked at that, then frowned. “I’ve heard things about them from Dad, but that’s not the main reason why I brought them up. There’s something going on on one of them.”

“What do you mean?” Crystal asked.

“It looks like someone built something on one of the islands recently. There’s this huge one near Pacifidlog that looks like it’s had a ton of trees mowed down and replaced it with a large building. It doesn’t look like it’s supposed to be there.” Brendan fixed a determined look at Crystal. “I think that’s where Team Magnus’ base is.”

Crystal’s eyes widened sharply at that. “If that’s it, then—“

“That’s where Charon is.” Aria stepped forward, slamming a fist into an open palm and grinning. “Brendan, lead us to that island! Let’s take them out!”


	76. Storming the Base

“So, what do you think went wrong with Charon’s plan?” Black asked casually, his purple tail twitching back and forth as he looked over at the girl sitting across the room from him.

The girl shrugged, her Glaceon ears flopping a little as they bumped against her shoulders. “They were probably stopped by the Champion. He _is_ the most powerful Trainer in Hoenn, and we have heard from our spies that he has been looking into ancient history.”

The girl’s voice had minimal emotion in it; she seemed cold and distant.

Black snorted. “Steven Stone? He’d rather stay in his caves and collect stones. And besides, he only uses _Steel-Types._ He wouldn’t have handled fighting both Kyogre and Groudon at once very well. Right, Silver?” He grinned over at the redhead who was standing by the window, only to get a dark glare in response that caused Black to chuckle darkly.

“I don’t see why you should be so sour about it.” Serena spun her flower umbrella’s handle in her hands, causing the petals to spin over her head. The girl with the Glaceon ears turned her head slightly to look at her with an impassive expression. “I certainly wouldn’t want to be out in that downpour; I don’t know how well my constitution would have handled it. Especially considering that the Pokémon I share my DNA with could be considered so fragile in comparison to those rampaging barbarians out there.”

“Sounds like you’re suggesting that you’re not going to be facing the new world with us when it comes.” Black raised an eyebrow, smirking.

Serena pulled her head back sharply at that, her eyes widening. “Are you insinuating that I am unable to—“

_AWOOOGA! AWOOOGA!_

The group of teenage human-Pokémon flinched back in alarm when they heard the foghorn-like alarm suddenly go off. The room started flashing an eerie red every few seconds, the lights in the ceiling switching back and forth between red and white.

“Intruders?!” Silver turned sharply away from the window.

“Well this is certainly unexpected.” Black rose off the couch he had been lounging on, eyebrows rising in surprise before a wide grin crossed his face. “I wonder who managed to stumble across our little hiding place.” The grin disappeared from his face in a second, his expression becoming serious and dark. “Split up! Alpha let the grunt workers go because they wouldn’t survive to the new world – we’re going to have to take these intruders on ourselves. Go!”

**Change in POV – Crystal**

“So this is where they’ve all been coming from?” Richie looked up at the large, gray building that took up a good quarters of the small island.

Crystal nodded. “Looks like it.” She turned and looked back at the rest of the gathered group. “Okay, guys! You know what we have to do in there?”

“We have to find Charon and put an end to this once and for all,” Blue replied grimly, stepping forward. He gripped a PokeBall at the belt on his waist and held it in a ready position. “We find him, and we can keep this from happening in any other region.”

Crystal nodded in agreement.

“We should split up.” Aria stepped forward as well, Richie the Raichu somehow managing to cling to her back, front paws on her right shoulder. “This building looks pretty large, and we need to cover ground quickly.”

“I’ll go with you.” Gold moved to stand next to Crystal and her team, Ethan standing tall on his shoulder. “I know my way around the base; we can go straight to Alpha from here. We beat him, and he might tell us where he’s keeping Khrista.”

Crystal’s ears went straight up at that. “You think so?”

Gold nodded, then turned to look at the rest of the Trainers. “Let’s go and beat these guys!”

“YEAH!”

The group ran towards the doors at the front of the building, blowing them open and spilling out into a lobby-like area. Stairs and corridors branched out and led off into different areas of the building.

“This way!” Gold ran towards a set of stairs that led down into a darkened hallway. Crystal followed after him, returning almost all of her Pokémon except for Richie, Latios, and Amy – the last two who obviously did not have PokeBalls of their own.

“It can’t be easy to reach him,” Crystal said as they quickly ran down the stairs.

“It’s not,” Gold replied. “We have to find the keys to his office, and he’s probably given those to admins he trusts.”

“Meaning we’re going to have to fight them?” Crystal asked.

“Maybe. Some of them might not be all that willing to fight. Xavier might just hand it over if he was given one of the keys.”

Crystal’s tail twitched as they reached the bottom of the stairs and entered a narrow hallway. “I remember him. I ran into him in Fortree after I beat Winona and got her Badge. He didn’t seem like the type of person who would want to fight….”

“No.”

The low, almost angered growl that came from ahead of them caused Crystal and Gold to stop short, Richie moving in front of them as Latios and Amy remained behind.

 _“I sense…a strange aura,”_ Latios said. He nudged Crystal in the back carefully with his nose. _“Be alert.”_

Crystal nodded slightly in response.

“I didn’t think that you’d be this stupid to come back, Gold,” growled the voice as a figure stepped out of the shadows ahead of them. A purple tail twitched back and forth in an irritated manner. “First you betrayed us by leaving us, and now you’ve betrayed us by bringing intruders from the outside with you?”

“Black, this has to stop,” Gold replied.

Crystal’s ears flicked back as her eyes widened, and Richie looked back at her with a concerned expression.

“Stop? What makes you think that it should?” Black looked over at Crystal, and his annoyed expression instantly turned into one of interest. “Well well well. I didn’t think that you would actually bring the original Mewthree here with you.” He grinned, revealing a set of teeth that appeared to be unusually sharp.

Crystal’s ears flicked back even further. “My _name_ is Crystal.”

“And mine is Black. Pleasure to make your acquaintance.” Black turned to look at something behind him. “Sister dear! I believe we have found ourselves a worthy challenge.”

A second figure emerged from the shadows – a girl wearing short jean shorts and a long-sleeved red and white shirt. The only thing that hinted at her other nature was the pair of long, icy blue ears that flopped down on either side of her head.

“I’ve been wondering if there is anyone who would have the skills to withstand me,” the girl said.

 _White,_ Crystal identified. She considered bringing out another Pokémon, but the hallway was narrow; Latios and Amy were behind her and Richie was in front of her, and there was no way that they were going to be able to move in front and take up a three-way battle position.

Gold stepped back, as he pulled the one PokeBall he hadn’t opened before from his belt. “If it’s a fight you want, it’s a fight you’ll get.”

“Do you really expect me to fight in the Trainer way?” White’s expression was cold. “Really, Gold, you should know better than that. Fight me on even ground.”

“I challenge you.” Black pointed at Crystal. “One Pokémon and us. Let’s see who really is the stronger one.”

Crystal’s ears practically slammed themselves against the top of her head as he tail lashed in alarm. Richie moved closer to her out of concern, ready to intervene if need be.

Crystal focused on Mike, remembering the Mighteyna in his PokeBall, and she shook her head as her ears shifted up and forward, a determined expression appearing on her face. “All right. Fine. I accept your challenge.”

Gold, Richie, Amy, and Latios stared at Crystal in surprise.

Black’s eyebrows rose, as well; he appeared to be slightly surprised, as well, but then he gained a dark grin. “Excellent. I’m looking forward to seeing how well you can stand against my Dark power! Liepard! To me!”

A lanky, purple cat-like Pokémon stepped out of the shadows, a smug expression on her face as she looked Crystal up and down. “She doesn’t look like much.”

“Richie.” Crystal nodded to the Gallade. Richie nodded in response then looked at the Liepard with a determined expression.

Black _tsked._ “What, no Mew? Well, that’s disappointing. I would have thought that you would have kept one of your relatives near you at all times.”

Crystal shifted her stance slightly, her eyes flickering a brighter blue for a moment. “I’m Level 50. I can take care of myself.”

“Oh, really?” Black crouched down, then pounced forward, opening his mouth wide and revealing a set of sharpened teeth. “Raaa—“

“Aura Sphere!”

Black was sent flying back by the blue sphere that Crystal blasted at him. He hit the wall where the hallway turned a corner to the left and cried out in pain before slumping to the ground.

“That wasn’t at full power,” Crystal said lowering her hand as Richie’s arms started to spark with electricity. “If it was, I definitely would have done more than that.”

“Shock Wave!” Richie slashed forward, causing the electrical blast to hit the Liepard in the side and send her skidding into White. The Dark-Type shook her head and snarled before pouncing at Richie, who danced out of the way before coming at Liepard again with another Shock Wave.

“Detect,” Liepard hissed as she dodged the electrical blast.

Richie dashed forward suddenly and slammed into Liepard’s side with a sudden punch that rammed her into the wall. “Feint!”

“Yow!” Liepard hissed as she scrambled to her feet, then lunged forward again as dark energy started to gather on her claws. “Why you little—“

“ _Shock Wave!”_ Richie slammed Liepard _again,_ causing the cat-like Pokémon to slam into the wall again and collapse. She attempted to rise to her feet, but then she collapsed again and didn’t move to get up.

Ethan whistled as Richie moved back to stand next to Crystal. “Not bad. Must’ve been one of Black’s weaker Pokémon.”

“He underestimated us,” Crystal realized.

“He may have, but I will not.”

Crystal and Gold turned their attention to White as her Glaceon ears started to rise up, cold air pouring off her in waves.

“Sheer Cold,” White hissed.

Crystal’s eyes widened sharply at the declaration; she quickly started to pull up a Barrier when the cold stopped abruptly, causing her to blink in confusion.

White’s eyes widened sharply before narrowing into slits. “What is this?! Why can’t I—“

 _“Despite the fact that you cannot grow beyond your present form, as you have already evolved once, you are still weaker than us,”_ Latios noted. He sounded surprised and somewhat amused. _“You may be part of the group that Charon called a ‘next step,’ but that does not mean you can easily master the moves it takes years for Pokémon to learn.”_

“Go, Zebstrika!”

Crystal turned her head to look over at Gold in surprise as his Ball exploded open, releasing a black and white, horse-like Pokémon with a mane that appeared similar to a collection of lightning bolts.

The Pokémon took one look at her surroundings, then shook her head and snorted. “I should think that we are back here for a reason.”

“We’re taking them down,” Gold replied as White took a step back at the sight of Zebstrika. “Their plan fell through; now it’s just a matter of rounding everyone up.”

Zebstrika inclined her head, looking down at White. Then she snorted, letting off a weak blast of a Thunder Wave and causing White to collapse against the wall as her muscles spasmed for a moment before relaxing completely. “Then we will need to find the one who started this whole mess and took us from our homes.”

Crystal nodded in agreement, then paused. “Oh, right! The keys!” She half ran, half flew over to where Black had collapsed. She first looked in the pockets of his jacket and came up with what looked like a plastic card with a black stripe on one side. “What is…”

“That’s it!” Gold pulled a similar card from the headband on White’s head, causing her to snarl at him in response. “Team Rocket used cards like this in the Radio Tower in Goldenrod, remember?”

“I can’t say that I do.” Crystal frowned. “The only time I ever really got involved with what they were doing directly was when they forced that Magikarp to evolve at the Lake of Rage; all I did in Goldenrod was kick them off the streets.”

“Oh yeah….right.” Gold shook his head. “Anyway, we’ve got the keys to use to reach Alpha. Now we just have to find where he is.”

“You mean you don’t know where he is usually?”

“I do; it’s just getting there that’s the problem. Alpha really liked using warp panels to get around.”

Crystal frowned at that. “Like at the Lilycove base…Ok. Then we’re just going to go through a lot of trial and error in order to find him. Let’s go find those warp panels.”

**Change in POV**

Alpha had been expecting something like this to happen, but he had been expecting one child, not a small group of Trainers of various ages. At least the Champion wasn’t among their number at this point in time; if what his spies had said were true, he was attempting to bond with Registeel on a deeper level and – perhaps – find other Trainers who would be able to take on the other Guardians of the region as well.

A foolish thought. The Legendary Golems, as they had also been called, would be difficult to control until the head unit was found, and that particular Pokémon wasn’t easily found. If the creature could be pinned down at all. Some claimed that he was hidden in Hoenn somewhere, and only the most cunning would be able to locate the golem. Others said that Regigigas was hidden in a temple below Sinnoh’s northernmost point.

Good luck to the Champion if he thinks to travel there to investigate.

Alpha looked over the PokeBalls attached to the belt on his desk for a moment, then picked up the belt and attached it around his waist. “It should seem that we have a large number of guests. I would like to see them…taken care of. Charon is in a safe place?”

The figure standing in the shadows nodded slightly. “Yes.”

“Good. I should hope that he stays there until everything has died down for his own good. If our plan is to succeed, I am going to require his services when not involved in altercations with the local authorities.” Alpha motioned to the figure in the shadows. “Find them and gather them together in one place. Heal them if need be. I want to have them slow down as much as possible before they decide to locate me. They will be the last line of defense before our intruders will reach me. And then it will be all on you.”

The figure nodded again, then disappeared in a flash of light.

Alpha turned to face the door of the room, inclining his head. “Come to me, Crystal. Show me the power that a hybrid of your caliber can have.”

**Change POV**

Jumping around on the warp panels got old with Crystal fast. Especially when it became clear that Gold didn’t remember the way to Alpha’s office.

“Why do human organizations like this even decide that they want warp panels like these in their buildings in the first place?!” Crystal demanded harshly as they jumped off another panel and into what looked like a storage room. “Do they like to confuse their guests?!”

“It gives him more time if people don’t know their way around,” Gold replied. He looked around as Richie, Latios, Zebstrika, and Amy came through the warp panel. “I’m getting the feeling that we’re close, though. I _think_ this is starting to look familiar….” He made his way past a pile of boxes to another corner of the storage room, Crystal and the others following after hi.

“If we’re giving him more time doing this, then we need to move quickly!” Crystal insisted. “Who knows what he’s done with Khrista and Charon by now!”

“He won’t be able to leave the island so easily,” Zebstrika spoke up calmly, causing Crystal to look at the Electric-Type. “If there are many Trainers here already who are causing him trouble and many more who are aware of the island’s location, I don’t think that he’s going to find any of his hiding places of use to him anymore.”

“Especially since his plan failed so horribly,” Amy added with a wide grin.

“Still, I don’t want to give him too much of a chance to prepare for us coming after him.” Crystal’s tail twitched with worry as they got past the boxes. “Especially because of—“

“Jackpot!” Gold grinned in triumph when he caught sight of the glowing, blue warp panel that was in the middle of the clear area. “I knew that it was hiding in one of these storage rooms somewhere!” He looked over at Crystal and gave her a wide grin. “You were worried about time? Alpha has none left.”

Crystal nodded in response, a determined grin coming across her face. “Good. Let’s go.”


	77. Chapter 77

Crystal stepped off the warp panel and into a hallway lined with wooden doors. Almost instantly, she bumped into Archie.

The Water-Type Trainer turned with an expression of surprise. “Crystal? Where’ve you been?”

“Playing warp panel hopscotch with Gold,” Crystal replied as the Jhoto Trainer came off the warp panel with Amy, Zebstrika, Latios, and Richie. Crystal looked around the hallway, her eyebrows shooting up when she saw how crowded it was. “Is everybody here?”

“Yup. They’ve been trying to get into the other rooms, but it looks like this place is a dead end.” Archie nodded to the doors on either side of the hall; Hiton and Eros were pushing against a couple doors while Blue was leaning against a third with an annoyed expression on his face.

“I don’t think you’d be able to get into them anyway,” Gold spoke up loudly enough for the others to turn and look at him. “The only door that we’re going to need to go through is that one.” He pointed towards the end of the hall, holding his hand up high enough that everyone could see which direction he was pointing in.

Crystal followed his hand and blinked when she saw the sealed metal door at the end of the hallway. She frowned, memories flashing through her mind of other places that she barely remembered. “That definitely looks like something that someone dangerous could hide behind.”

“You got the key card?” Gold pulled out the one that he had taken off White.

Crystal nodded, pulling out the matching card she’d taken from Black.

“Okay. Let’s go get this thing opened up and beat Alpha.”

Crystal and Gold started to forge their way through the small crowd towards the end of the hall, then, the others moving to the side in order to make room for the two Trainers and their Pokémon. When they reached the door, they saw two card sliders that were on either side of it and quickly moved in front of them.

“On three.” Gold held his card above the slot, Crystal moving to do the same on her side of the door. “One…two…three!”

They slid the two cards through at once, and something _thunked_ on the other side of the door before the steel barrier slid upward smoothly.

Gold and Crystal exchanged looks before nodding, then stepped through the opening, their Pokémon following after them.

The room on the other side was a small and simple office that had very dim lighting…except for the light that was coming through a doorway that was open on the other side, behind a rather ornate wooden desk.

Gold gritted his teeth and dashed through the door on the other side. “Alpha! You’re not going to be able to get away from us!”

“Gold, wait!” Crystal quickly scrambled after him, followed by Richie, Latios, Amy, and the rest of the group. “It doesn’t look like he left in a hurry! It could be a—“ She came skidding to a halt seconds after she left the office, eyes widening as her ears stiffened up in alarm.

“A trap,” Crystal finished weakly as the others poured in around her.

“Welcome.”

Crystal turned her head sharply to look away from the figures she recognized on the other side of the room – which looked like it could have been the inside of a Gym – and focused on the figure who had spoken.

“I assume that you’re Crystal Soul, the Mewthree project that Team Rocket didn’t see any reason in keeping and pursuing?” The cobalt-haired man standing in the middle of the line of Pokémon-human hybrids looked at Crystal with a cold expression that almost seemed to hide an eager spark.

Crystal bristled, her ears flicking back as her tail lashed. “You must be this Alpha I’ve been hearing about. Why are you doing this? Why steal my data from Team Rocket and try to make a new world and commit genocide on everyone else on the planet?”

“Not ‘everyone,’ just the imperfect humans,” Alpha responded. “They have caused more damage than this planet can handle; that offense needs to be corrected.”

“ _Imperfect?”_ Crystal balked at that. “You really think that you can destroy an entire race just because of that? The planet is still turning, and we’re doing everything we can to _protect_ it! The damage is being reversed!”

“Not fast enough,” Alpha replied shortly. “My solution – to wipe out the offenders and start anew with a new world – will still come to see the light of day. But first, it seems I must remove the one oversight I made. As you did not deign to join us, I shall have to see you removed as well.” He snapped his fingers.

_FWASH!_

Crystal and the others stepped back in shock and surprise when a bright light flashed between Alpha and Crystal, and another figure materialized: a teenage girl with brown hair, blue eyes, a red T-shirt with – oddly enough – a _yellow_ type of PokeBall that Crystal had never seen before on it…and Mew ears sticking up out of the girl’s head…a Mew tail flicking back and forth behind her…

…and a golden collar tightly wrapped around her neck.

Crystal’s ears flicked back as her eyes widened. “Khrista.”

The other girl’s ears twitched, but she said nothing.

“I see you know of my little helper,” Alpha said, eyebrows raising slightly. They settled a moment later, however, and a slight smile crossed his face. “Good. Then no introductions are needed.” He pulled a PokeBall off his belt. “Release your Pokémon. Let us see who is better: the old generation, or our step towards perfection.” Alpha’s smile widened into a predatory grin. “I highly doubt that you will be able to withstand our combined might, however.”

Crystal’s tail lashed as her ears flicked back; she looked back and forth between Alpha – who appeared to be triumphant – and Khrista, whose faith remained blank and impassive.

Richie put a hand on her shoulder, causing Crystal to look over at the Gallade. When her concerned, nervous blue eyes met with the determined red-eyed gaze of the Psychic/Fighting-Type, she paused for a moment before nodding back in response.

“All right.” Crystal looked back at Alpha as she reached for the PokeBalls at her waist. She quickly released Samuel, Trisha, Ando, and Mike in quick succession. “We’ll stop you!”

“What makes you so sure?” Alpha responded casually, confidently, as he released his own team: a Medicham, an Alakazam, a strange Pokémon that looked like some kind of orb given the skeleton of a set of wings, and a Gallade of his own. “I think you’ll find that we are meant to carry on! You will not set foot beyond this room once we are finished with you!”

“As if, ya big doofus!” Archie barked back. “Like you can say what we can do! Sapphire! I’m taking you on!” He released Peng from his PokeBall and barreled over to where the girl was standing; she tossed her head at Archie in response.

“Ruby.” Maxie stepped forward, adjusting his glasses. “I think you’ll find that I’ve grown stronger since we last met.”

“Pearl!” Hiton pointed towards the blond boy on the other side of the room. “I challenge you! Let us see how well you can stand against the might of a Black Belt!”

Pearl gave a laugh in response. “I’d like to see you try!”

The group on Crystal’s side of the room split, moving towards the Pokémon/human Trainers on the other side they had a bone to pick with. Silver, Diamond, White, Serena, and a man with red and blue scales on his arms didn’t have anyone go up against them until Blue, Leaf, Gold, and Aria stepped forward.

“Ryu.” Aria turned to look at the man with the red and blue scales on his arms.

Ryu nodded in response.

“If you want to fight him, you will have to fight me as well,” Serena spoke up crisply, spinning her flower umbrella in her hands. “Do you think you have what it takes, Ranger?”

“I was born and raised in Hoenn; Double Battles aren’t new to me.” Aria grabbed two PokeBalls off her belt as Rick jumped off her back, thunderbolt-tipped tail lashing back and forth. “I think the question is, do you have what it takes to take on a Champion runner-up?”

“Here we are again,” Gold said as he stood in front of White.

“Indeed,” the girl replied crisply.

“So, you’re the kid that Steven’s been hunting down, huh?” Blue asked, looking Silver up and down. “This is going to be interesting.”

“Where’s Steven?” Silver demanded.

“He’s coming; don’t worry about that.” Blue grinned widely.

“I’m sorry, Diamond, but we can’t let Alpha win,” Leaf said, an expression of worry on her features.

Diamond nodded slightly in reply. “I don’t have a choice.”

“I know.”

Crystal’s team spread out behind her, eyeing the team standing at Alpha’s side. Crystal herself had her gaze locked on Khrista.

“Knock her out,” Alpha ordered. “I don’t want to see Crystal killed; she won’t be of use to me then.”

“Take them down!” Blue yelled from where he stood in front of Silver.

Then Khrista _moved._

Crystal was caught by surprise when Khrista suddenly dashed forward, one hand drawing back in a fist for a punch, the aura surrounding it sparking with electricity.

“Barrier!” Crystal yelped, throwing up her hands in front of her.

_Bong!_

Khrista’s fist connected with the glass wall, resulting in an odd, gong-like sound that caused Khrista’s eyes to widen in surprise.

 _“I am not defenseless.”_ Crystal focused, pushing back against the Barrier and sending Khrista skidding back as her team moved past her and towards Alpha’s Pokémon. _“Why are you doing this, sister? Why are you listening to this monster? You have to know that he’s not up to anything good!”_

Khrista didn’t reply, although her ears _did_ twitch in response to Crystal’s telepathy. She moved into a half-crouch, tail lashing back and forth before she lunged at Crystal again, nearly avoiding a Hydro Pump as it was sent flying across the room and collided with Ruby seconds before a blast of wind that seemed to be colored in sparkles flew in the opposite direction. Khrista’s hands became covered in a dark energy that almost seemed to lengthen into claws, and she slashed at Crystal.

“Aa!” Crystal jumped back, and Mike moved forward, leaping up and opening his jaws wide in order to sink his teeth into Khrista’s arm. She saw him coming, however, and moved to avoid the Mighteyna, sending him into Alpha’s Alakazam instead.

Mike bit down on the Alakazam’s nose, causing the Pokémon to thrash back with a cry of pain in an attempt to knock the Dark-Type off. Amy quickly moved in seconds later, and Crystal’s team rushed past her and Khrista as Khrista came nearly on top of her opponent.

Crystal ducked to avoid one of the claws, but that only put her in the path of the upwards swipe that came from the other, dragging up her left arm. “Aagh!” She quickly scrambled back, gripping her left arm as it throbbed in response to the attack. _“Khrista, please! Why are you doing this? Answer me!”_

Khrista paused for a moment, then winced as the golden collar around her neck seemed to flash with _something_ for a moment. In the background, nearly hidden by the scuffle that had broken out between Crystal’s team and Alpha’s, the leader of Team Magnus gained a dark smile that sent shivers down the spines of those who spotted it.

Crystal’s eyes widened when she saw the collar flash. _“The collar…? Is that what’s causing all this?”_

Khrista charged again, her hands once again becoming covered in the shadowy claws that she had used before. Crystal was ready this time, however, and she moved to block the claws with another Barrier. The screeching noise that resulted from the claws scraping against the glass-like substance caused Crystal’s and Khrista’s ears to flick back, but they didn’t wince as visibly as the others in the room did.

“All right,” Crystal announced aloud. “I know what’s going on now.” She gave Khrista an apologetic look. “I hope you can forgive me for this, but…”

Crystal took in a breath, then released the Barrier abruptly, sending Khrista careening forward. However, instead of hitting Crystal, she only hit empty air as Crystal vanished from sight. Khrista whirled in order to find where Crystal had gone, as a result not noticing when Crystal flickered back into existence behind her.

_“I hope this works.”_

Crystal pulled back a hand as Khrista started to turn in response to Crystal’s voice, just catching sight of the other Mewthree before Crystal slammed her faintly glowing right hand into the collar on Khrista’s neck.

_“Force Palm!”_

Khrista let out a yell at the Fighting-Type shockwave of energy that resulted from the move, snapping the golden collar and sending it flying away from her neck. She gained a look of shock as soon as the collar left her neck, but then her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she fell limply to the floor.

Crystal moved back in surprise when Khrista collapsed, blinking in surprise and then worry before getting down on her knees to see if the Force Palm had hurt more than Crystal had intended – she had been just aiming for the collar, but any Pokémon attacks could be devastating to a human body that wasn’t expecting it. She placed two fingers on Khrista’s neck as a bolt of electricity went flying over her head.

_Ba-dump. Ba-dump._

Crystal sighed in relief. _Good; she’s still alive, and her neck doesn’t feel like it’s been hurt, either._

“How?!”

Crystal looked up sharply at the cry of disbelief, catching sight of Alpha staring at her with an expression of shock. Around him, his Pokémon had all collapsed – fainted by Crystal’s team, but her team was nowhere near him.

“How could you defeat her?!” Alpha demanded harshly as the sound of fighting started to die down around them. “She was perfect! Capable of not only using every attack but transforming into every _Type_ in existence! You should have been unable to defeat her!”

“All Types have a weakness!” Blue responded. Crystal looked over in his direction and saw that he had River out of his PokeBall and was holding Silver in a headlock while the Blastoise stood behind them both. “Or did you forget what you were taught when you were ten years old? Crystal wasn’t even one when she got her first Pokémon and she already knew about that kind of thing!”

Crystal’s ears twitched in response to that, her tail flicking as she looked around the room and saw that her allies were holding their opponents in similar positions, her Pokémon mixed in among them in order to help hold some of them down.

Lauraina hissed as she tried to bite at Eros’ side, but Richie held one of his blades close to her face, making her pull back a little and hiss again. Ryu, his hands held behind his back by Ando and forced down onto his knees, didn’t even try to fight back against the large Bug/Rock-Type. Aria was mainly focused on Serena, anyway, trying to hold the struggling Fairy-Type in place.

Latios turned away from where Hiton was pushing Pearl to the ground, then flew over to where Crystal was kneeling near Khrista’s collapsed form. _“You’ve been hurt. Are you all right?”_

Crystal looked at her throbbing left arm; the glowing slash marks from Khrista’s attack had faded slightly, but not much. “I can still stand, but it does hurt.”

_“Allow me to—“_

“You will _not_ ignore me!” Alpha bellowed. He started moving forward, grabbing an Ultra Ball from his belt that he hadn’t opened at the start of the fight. “If she was unable to finish the job, then I will take care of this my—“

_BOOM!_

Crystal jumped, hunching over Khrista’s unconscious form instinctively as one of the walls was suddenly blown in, sending thick pieces of concrete into the room and forcing some of the others to scatter.

“HEY! Where’s the moron that thought it would be a good idea to mess with the climate, huh??”

Crystal’s ears twitched as she blinked at the sound of the voice. _That voice…can it be..?_

Crystal raised her head and turned quickly in order to see where the voice had been coming from. “Riley?”

“If this guy’s got my name then we’re gonna have a problem!”

The dust from the explosion cleared, and a large, orange dragon-like Pokémon stepped into the room, fire-tipped tail lashing back and forth as the Pokémon looked around with an irritated expression. The Pikachu sitting on top of his head put his hands on his hips and surveyed the room with a grumpy expression.

“His name is Alpha as far as we know,” Blue called back without missing a beat. Silver struggled in his arms, but he tightened his grip. “Don’t even think about it, kid. Do you want to get blasted again?”

Silver grumbled something unintelligible.

“Alpha, huh?” came a new voice.

Crystal’s ears went straight up as another figure stepped into the room through the new door. Her eyes widened when she caught sight of the pair of wings that were on the man’s back that definitely _hadn’t_ been there the last time she had seen him.

“Red…?” Crystal asked in shock.

The Kanto Champion who had been missing for the last few years looked at Crystal and grinned, showing slightly sharpened teeth as he tapped the bill of his baseball cap in greeting before looking around the room as his grin faded. “All right.” He looked behind him. “Steven, you’ve got the maniac, right?”

“Right.” Steven stepped into the room. “Registeel has a tight grip, and I’ve got that man’s Pokémon here.” He held up a belt with PokeBalls on it, then looked around the room. “There. That man has to be him.” He pointed towards Alpha, who was standing poised to throw the Ultra Ball at any moment.

“Blaze?” Red didn’t move from his position, instead folding his arms across his chest.

The Charizard made a rumbling growl, then launched himself towards Alpha. The man started to move to release the Pokémon inside his Ultra Ball, but the draconic Fire-Type landed on the man before he got a chance to.

“You’re under arrest!” the Pikachu on top of Blaze’s head exclaimed.

“Is that Pikachu speaking _English_?” Maxie asked in amazement. He adjusted his glasses as he stared at Riley, as though that would change what he had just heard.

“Yeah, I’m talkin’ like a human, so what?” Riley responded. “Red’s a Charizard, Blue’s a Blastoise, and you’re sitting on top of a kid who’s at least part Pokémon. I think that a talking Pikachu’s gonna be the least of your problems.”

Maxie spluttered as Archie burst out laughing.

“I like this guy!” Archie exclaimed, grinning. He laughed and grinned at Sapphire, who was presently floating in a giant bubble of water with an annoyed expression on her face.

Red jumped up and glided across the room and over the others, landing next to Blaze and flaring his wings as he looked down at Alpha with an expression of disapproval. “Alpha, of Team Magnus. You are under arrest for tampering with the world’s equilibrium and nearly ending it, not to mention child labor and unorthodox lab experiments.” He looked over at Khrista’s unconscious form under Crystal, and his eyes sparked with an expression of surprise before it turned into one of sorrow. Then he turned his head sharply to glare back at Alpha. “We’re taking you all in for what you’ve done.”

Alpha struggled against the Charizard that was sitting on top of him, a snarl forming on his face. “You think you can stop me? You do not know what I am capable of. The new world – it will happen! I have seen it!”

Riley snorted. “Yeah, yeah. Keep talking, buddy. It’s not gonna happen.”

Red grabbed one of the PokeBalls on his waist and tossed it, releasing an Arcanine. “Check the base over, just in case we’re missing something. If anything comes up, come right back.”

The large, red, dog-like Pokémon nodded before turning and running out of the room.

“Everyone else, we’re going to need you to take the kids to Rustboro.” Steven nodded around the room. “The Devon Corporation is going to keep them under house arrest in an apartment building until it can be discussed what can be done about them. If you want to stay until you know what is going to be done, that’s up to you.”

Crystal nodded slightly in response, then jumped when she felt a pair of paws rest on her left arm suddenly.

 _“Heal Pulse,”_ Latios said gently as energy pulsed from his paws and into the wound Khrista had left. The slashes closed then, leaving behind tears through Crystal’s jacket sleeve and thin scars on her arm.

“Thanks.” Crystal nodded to Latios.

 _“I believe it would be wise to have yourself looked at properly regardless,”_ the Legendary replied. _“Shadow Claws can leave phantom pains behind if not healed properly.”_

Crystal nodded in response. “We can do that after we get everyone to Rustboro.” She looked down at Khrista, then focused and lifted the other Mewthree up with Telekinesis over above Latios’ back. She started to lower Khrista carefully onto Latios, but then the scars on her left arm flared up suddenly and Crystal winced, causing Khrista to be dropped rather abruptly as a result.

Crystal hissed through her teeth and gripped her left arm as Latios shifted his body a little, adjusting Khrista’s lying position on his back so that she wasn’t going to fall off. “Oops.”

 _“It’s all right; she will stay in place._ ” Latios lowered himself a little. _“There is still room.”_

“I don’t want you to have to carry any more; two of us is going to be pretty heavy,” Crystal replied. “And Amy doesn’t have a PokeBall to go in, either.”

“You can borrow Skarmory.”

Crystal turned her head at that to look over at Steven, who was walking over and holding out a PokeBall towards her.

“A-are you sure?” Crystal asked in surprise.

“I’m certain. Metagross will be able to carry me to the mainland, at least.”

Crystal hesitated for a moment, then nodded and accepted the PokeBall. “OK.” She turned and looked back at the rest of her team. “Come on, guys. Let’s go to Rustboro.”


	78. Khrista

Crystal quickly climbed the stairs of the Devon Corporation, most of her team following after her on the stairs, as Latios had flown off to check on his sister the day before and Ven the Venasaur, Trisha, and Ando were too big and heavy to fit into the stairwell.

“Why do you think they want you up on the second floor?” Richie asked as he kept up with Esmeralda the Espeon right behind Crystal.

“I think it’s got something to do with what happened a few days ago,” Crystal replied, not glancing back at them in case she lost her footing.

“Why? They said that they were gonna let everyone go back to their families, right?” The Gallade frowned. “Except for that Poison lady, anyway.”

“I hope they never let her out of their sight,” Samuel muttered. “Don’t want another poisoned forest incident, that’s for sure!”

“So what do you think this is all about?” Esmeralda asked.

“Something tells me we’re gonna find out,” Crystal replied as they reached the top of the stairs.

Crystal quickly stepped onto the development floor, Richie, Samuel, Mike, Amy, Esmeralda, and Kaz followed off the stairs after her. The arrival of the large group caused those already on the floor to turn and look over in their direction.

“R-Red?” Crystal blinked in surprise. “Blue? Wh-what are you guys doing here?”

The Kanto Champion turned at the sound of Crystal’s voice and grinned when he caught sight of her. Riley – who was sitting on his shoulder – twitched his ears and smirked when he saw Crystal.

Red motioned for Crystal to come over, and she instantly ran over and hugged him, arms going above his folded Charizard wings in order to avoid running into them.

“It’s good to see you again,” Red said, grinning.

Crystal’s ears flicked at how close his voice was, and she laughed. “Same to you.” She slipped out of the hug and looked Red up and down. “Where have you been? You just disappeared suddenly without a word to anyone!”

“Well, when I started growing wings I thought it would be a good idea to take a sudden vacation,” Red replied. His wings shifted a little against his back.

“He just didn’t think to leave a note when he left,” Riley said, looking at Red slyly. Red sent the Pikachu an annoyed expression at the comment, which caused Riley to shrug. “Hey, I tried to remind you to tell _someone_ where we were going, but you just up and left!”

“I’m certain that your appearance here is going to cause quite the uproar then,” Steven commented from where he stood across the room.

Blue snorted. “You’ve got that right.” He ruffled Crystal’s hair between her ears, getting a squeak of surprise from the Trainer. “You did a pretty good job back there, taking on Team Magnus.”

“I had help!” Crystal protested, putting her hands above her head.

“Yeah, but you took ‘em on first.” Blue grinned. You got everyone started, and if it weren’t for you, who knows what could have happened to the planet?”

Crystal’s ears drooped at the thought of Kyogre and Groudon’s weather-made chaos. “Yeah….” Her ears perked up a little. “At least Gold and the others are going to be all right now, though. I’m glad that they can go home and try to live how they lived before.”

Steven nodded in agreement as he came over, leaving behind a group of men and women in lab coats gathered around something. “We went over Alpha’s and Charon’s labs in their base after you left. It looked like they were planning on creating more like Gold and the others after Groudon and Kyogre remade the world, and if they were stopped there, they were going to continue on to Sinnoh and find the Legendaries that are said to live there.”

Crystal’s eyebrows moved up a little at that, her tail twitching back and forth as her Pokémon exchanged looks at that. “R-really? What kinds of Legendaries live there?”

Steven gained a dark expression. “They’re said to be able to control time and space, so they could remake the world and destroy it and everyone who lives in it in the same breath.”

Crystal froze.

“Thankfully, it seems they tried that once before and didn’t get further than trying to get a group together and defacing some of the ruins in Sinnoh,” Steven continued. “As a result, Charon and Alpha, or Cyrus, are actually wanted men there and now all over the world as a result of what they attempted here.”

“Which is why you turned them over to the International Police as soon as you got onto the mainland,” Crystal said, nodding. “At least we won’t have to worry about that backup plan now, right?”

“Exactly,” Blue said with a definite nod.

“So, why did you ask me to come up here?” Crystal frowned and cocked her head to one side curiously. “I had been thinking of going to challenge the League in a couple days because Wallace gave me his Badge for helping against Magnus and getting Rayquaza’s help. Latios already said that he wasn’t going to help me with that, and since he’s not a part of my team I’m fine with it and—“

“Slow down!” Riley exclaimed. “You’re starting to go a mile a minute there! Man, when you found out you could talk all those years ago I didn’t think you’d end up turning into such a chatterbox!”

Crystal ducked her head and blushed at the Pikachu’s admonition.

“We’ve actually got a bit of a problem.”

Crystal looked up again at Steven’s statement, causing her to blink in confusion.

“It’s your…sister, I suppose. Khrista. She hasn’t woken up.”

Crystal blinked slowly at that, her eyes widening. “She hasn’t? But – when I used that Force Palm to get the collar off her neck, I didn’t—“

“There aren’t any physical injuries, she’s fine there,” Steven placated quickly, causing Crystal to sigh in relief. “We’re simply concerned that there might be something wrong with her mind as a result of what she’s been through.”

Crystal’s eyebrows came together in an expression of concern. “Well, what do you expect me to be able to do? Couldn’t you ask a power Psychic-Type like an Alakazam for help?” She nodded to Kaz, who stepped forward, gripping his two spoons readily.

“That kind of help isn’t one that we need.” Steven shook his head. “We need to convince her to wake up, and a Psychic-Type attempting to force her to awaken isn’t going to do anything to help that – we’ve already tried.”

“So, what are we going to do?”

“We were thinking that it might be a good idea to try and send you into her Dream World—i-if you’re willing to, that is.”

Crystal turned to look over at the group of scientists that were on the other side of the room. They moved to the side, revealing that Khrista was lying on a bed with some kind of headset on the top of her head, electrons taped to her forehead and temples. There was a bed and matching headset next to her, as well.

The monitor at the head of the bed showed Khrista sitting in a blank room on what looked like a white box, head bowed, tail twitching back and forth. There was nothing else there.

“Y-you’re asking me to go in?” Crystal asked, her tails twitching nervously. “Why me?”

“She’s probably going to listen to you more than she’ll listen to us,” Blue replied. “We’ve already gone in and tried to talk to her – which felt really _weird,_ by the way.” He made a face.

“That’s just because you got turned into a Blastoise and weren’t used to how fat you got,” Red replied, grinning slyly.

“Says the guy who had to relearn how to balance when he suddenly got a _tail_ ,” Blue replied pointedly.

“You transformed into Pokémon when you went into Khrista’s dream?” Crystal asked in surprise.

Red rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah. I guess the dream world still thinks we’re Pokémon or something.”

Crystal blinked a couple times at that, looking bemused. “Huh. I didn’t know that.” She looked over at Khrista again, a worried expression appearing on her face. “So, she didn’t listen to you?”

Blue shook his head. “She thought we were figments of her imagination. Maybe you’d be able to get through to her, since you’ve seen each other face-to-face. If you’re willing to do it, that is.”

“Blue and I can try again,” Red added. “It’s going to be a challenge to get through, but I think—“

“I’ll do it.”

Red stopped short and looked at Crystal in surprise. Blue blinked a couple times out of surprise as well.

“You sure?” Blue asked.

Crystal nodded. “She and I are the same – genetically, anyway. Maybe something about that connection will let her know that I’m not a figment of her imagination.”

“Maybe,” Steven agreed, nodding. “All right.” He looked over at the group of scientists who were standing near Khrista’s unconscious form. “You know better what Crystal’s about to do than I am.”

One of the scientists – the same man Crystal recognized as having been working with the machine when she had last been in Rustboro – stepped forward. “What’s basically going to happen is that we are going to have you lie on the other bed and put this headset on.” He motioned to the headset that matched Khrista’s and was lying on the other bed’s pillow. “It’ll connect your and Khrista’s sleeping minds together in such a way that you can share a dreamscape. What will come of that, I’m not entirely sure; you’ll have to see for yourself what will happen.”

Crystal nodded. “Okay. Let’s do this, then.” She strode across the room and moved over to the empty bed; one of the scientists held up the headset so that Crystal could take it in her own hands and figure out how it was supposed to be positioned on her head.

“Now what?” Crystal lay down on the bed, looking over at Khrista as the headset pressed against her head.

“You fall asleep, and the machine should do the rest of the work,” the scientist replied. “We’ll be monitoring things from out here, so if anything goes wrong we’ve got a way to pull you out of the dream world safely.”

Crystal nodded in response. “Okay; that’s good to know.” She took in a breath and forced herself to relax into the bed, breathing in and out slowly as she closed her eyes and attempted to drift off.

Considering how soft the bed was, it was actually surprisingly easy, and in seconds Crystal had drifted off to sleep completely.

The next thing she knew she was standing in the middle of the very same battlefield in the Team Magnus base that she had been at a few days ago. Sitting in a corner on a plain, white box, was Khrista, who didn’t even look up when Crystal arrived.

“Whoa.” Crystal looked around, blinking. “This place almost looks real.” She turned slowly to look at the room, frowning. “Except that Red blasted a hole through that wall there and there are a couple doors missing….”

“Why do you care?”

Crystal jumped at the sound of the other, eerily similar voice, and she turned to face Khrista, who was now looking up at her with a tired expression.

“Because it’s interesting how much detail you put into a place that we found, I guess.” Crystal walked over to where Khrista was sitting and stopped a short distance away from her. “I know you already know who I am, but I think I’ll go ahead and introduce myself anyway. I’m Crystal Soul.” She held out a hand, expecting Khrista to grab it and shake it.

Khrista looked up at Crystal with a slight frown. “Is that really your last name?”

Crystal blinked at the question. “U-uh, well, technically I don’t have one – I came up with it when I came to Hoenn because the form for getting a Trainer license and signing up for the League challenge asked for on.” She held her hand up for a moment longer, then dropped it to her side when Khrista didn’t make a move to grab it. “I thought that it worked. Why do you ask?”

Khrista shook her head. “You probably wouldn’t understand it.”

“Well, I don’t understand a lot yet. I’m only ten years old.”

That got Khrista to look up in confusion. “That can’t be right. You’ve got to be fifteen at least.”

“I only look fifteen.” Crystal shrugged. “I just grew quickly when I was developing in Team Rocket’s lab.”

Khrista stared, then spluttered and shook her head. “Okay, that _can’t_ be right.”

“…what do you mean?”

“Team Rocket made Mew _two,_ not…not Mew _three_ , I guess _.”_

Crystal frowned at the comment. “What do you mean by that, exactly? If Team Rocket isn’t the reason that Blaine decided to experiment with human and Pokémon DNA, how do you suggest that we’re alive?”

“I wasn’t _created_ because of…whatever happened!” Khrista made a wide motion to the room, her Mew ears flicking back as her tail lashed back and forth wildly. “I was changed because some _moron_ decided to _kidnap_ me and changed me as a result!”

Crystal blinked in surprise at that, taking a step back as an uncertain expression crossed her face. “Wh-what?” She frowned. “Are you saying that you used to be completely one thing before? Fully Mew?”

“No, fully _human._ ” Khrista sighed irritably.

“…that doesn’t make any sense. I know that humans can be fully transformed into Pokémon if they end up on the other side of the world, but caught between?” Crystal shook her head. “Red and Blue are only part Pokémon because they used to be _fully_ Pokémon. This doesn’t make any sense.”

Khrista blinked. “Red and Blue are part Pokémon? That sounds even weirder than your backstory.”

“They were in the Dream World a little while ago – the Charizard and Blastoise?” Crystal rubbed the back of her head. “Admittedly, not very many people know that they used to be Pokémon anyway, so I’m not surprised that you don’t know….”

Khrista groaned. “I’m getting a headache.” She looked at Crystal, scanning the girl up and down with blue eyes that seemed to carry a harshness hidden in them, but also a curiosity. “We have no idea what we’re each talking about.”

Crystal blinked. “What do you mean?”

“I wasn’t created,” Khrista repeated. “I was _born._ I only got all this—“ She motioned to herself “—when Cyrus kidnapped me instead of a friend of mine. Her name is Maria.”

“You mean Alpha?”

“…no.”

Crystal frowned. “Wait a minute…Maria – Aria said you called her that. Does she look like your friend?”

“A splitting image. I guess Maria’d say I found a counterpart for her or something.”

“…counterpart? What do you mean?”

Khrista paused, blinking, then looked at Crystal with a deadpan expression. “Oh. Right. You don’t know about that stuff.”

“Would you please explain it, then?”

Khrista sighed. “I’m you, basically. Just from…either an entirely different dimension or just a different timeline or something.”

Crystal pulled back a little at Khrista’s statement, blinking in confusion. “Different…dimension? You mean…you’re an alien?”

“Something like that.” Khrista gave a shaky smile.

“But…how did you get here?”

The shaky smile faded. “That guy you beat. You call him Alpha. I call him Cyrus. He _dragged_ me from my home dimension and decided to use me to get his plans to follow through somehow.” Khrista reached for her neck; the golden collar that had been around her neck flickered into existence for a moment before fading from sight.

Crystal winced, her tail twitching as her ears flicked back. “Y-you mean…he enslaved you?”

“Y-yeah.” Khrista’s voice broke a little. She sighed. “At this point, I just want to wake up and be back home. I’m tired, and I don’t want to deal with all this.” She motioned to the room that her dreaming mind had created. “I’d stick around to make sure that Sinnoh’s going to be okay and safe from anything that Alpha might pull, but—“

“He and Charon were arrested by the International Police,” Crystal spoke up. “I don’t think they’re going to be causing any trouble anytime soon.”

“Really?” Khrista smirked. “I wonder what sort of look Looker had on his face when they were turned in.”

“Who?”

Khrista made a waving motion. “Don’t worry about it. I don’t know if you’ll meet the guy anytime soon.” She sighed. “Well, if Sinnoh’s not going to have any problems, then at least Dialga and Palkia won’t end up….” Khrista trailed off, then shook her head.

Crystal blinked in confusion. Dialga and Palkia? Those must have been the Legendaries who lived in Sinnoh. She decided to ask Professor Oak and Rosa about them later.

Wait….

“I don’t know how I’d be able to get you home,” Crystal said, “but I think I might be able to find someone who could find a way to get you back.”

Khrista’s ears twitched, and she looked at Crystal with an odd expression. “Oh?”

“Yeah. But…well, I’d like it if you woke up first. That way you can meet her in person. I know you won’t be waking up at home, but…I trust the people who are nearby. Red, Blue, Steven, and my team. They’re all out there right now.” Crystal motioned upward.

Khrista swayed back and forth a little on her seat, frowning. “I know those people – the ones where I come from, anyway.” She paused. “All right. If I can’t trust myself – so to speak – then who can I trust?” She looked at Crystal with a more confident expression, a smirk turning into a grin. “Let’s go meet these friends of yours and get me home.”


	79. Chapter 79

Crystal opened her eyes and sat up on the bed, then reached up and removed the headset. She looked over at Khrista and smiled when she saw that her counterpart was starting to sit up and freeze when she noticed what she was wearing.

“What the heck?” Khrista reached up and grabbed at the headset on her head, pulling at it a little. A couple scientists moved closer to help Khrista remove it, causing her to stiffen defensively, her tail twitching back and forth in an agitated manner.

“Let me.” Crystal moved over to Khrista’s bed quickly, causing the Devon scientists to move back. “We’re in the Devon Corporation in Rustboro, on their development floor.” She pulled the headset off Khrista’s head.

“Devon?” Khrista repeated. “Did they ship this thing from Unova or what?”

“Unova?” one of the scientists repeated. “What makes you think this came from Unova? I’ve been studying Pokémon dreams with this equipment for quite some time now!”

“Is this something that….” Crystal trailed off.

Khrista nodded. “Yeah.” She frowned. “I guess things are a lot more different here than I thought.” She pushed herself off the bed and stumbled for a moment before regaining her balance and looking around the room. Her eyebrows show up when she saw Red and Blue standing off to one side. “You two included.”

Red and Blue exchanged confused looks at that.

“Uh…okay?” Red offered, slightly thrown off.

“I’m not entirely sure what’s going on, either, but Khrista said that she’s me from another dimension,” Crystal said, looking over at Steven and the others.

“Another dimension?” Steven repeated.

“What’s a dimension?” Richie asked in confusion.

“I basically come from a planet that’s exactly like this one except the people are a little different.” Khrista looked over at Red and Blue. “Like you two aren’t part Pokémon over there.”

Red blinked in surprise as his wings flared out a little.

“And Maria isn’t a Ranger, either; she’s a Trainer _and_ the Champion of Kanto, Jhoto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, _and_ Unova.”

“That’s rather impressive,” Steven commented.

“Sounds like a challenge,” Riley commented with a grin.

Khrista jumped. “You can _talk?_ What, did you learn from a Meowth or something?”

“No, I’ve been able to since I was born!” Riley replied. “What makes you think that a Meowth taught me?”

“U-uh…” Khrista shook her head. “Nevermind. Other dimension thing.”

Riley huffed.

Crystal’s hand hovered over Ando’s PokeBall absently, wondering what Khrista would think of the Armaldo and _his_ ability to speak.

“How did you end up here if you live somewhere else?” Steven asked, frowning.

Khrista’s expression shifted to one of disgust. “Alpha. Somehow that spiky-haired moron decided to drag me from my dimension to this one, and now I’ve got to find a way to get back.” She sighed. “I don’t really know a way that I can do that, though.”

“Well, that’s a problem,” Blue remarked.

“I was thinking of talking to…to a friend of mine,” Crystal said quickly, looking over at the scientists standing near the Dream machine. “Maybe she has some connections that’ll get Khrista home – like what she did with you, Red.” She nodded to the Kanto Trainer.

Khrista gained a curious expression as Red’s eyes widened. “Who are you talking about?”

“My—“

_FWASH!_

_“Crystal! I only just heard – do you realize how much danger you were in?!”_

Crystal jumped in surprise when the little pink, cat-like Pokémon suddenly appeared in her face. “R-Rosa! Where have you been?!”

_“Looking into something that was happening in Sinnoh. It looked like—“_

“Let me guess,” Khrista said flatly, interrupting the Mew. “It looked like someone had ripped a hole in space?”

 _“W-well, yes actually—“_ The little pink Legendary turned and looked over at Khrista and froze, eyes widening. _“Oh my Arceus. You aren’t from here.”_

Red and Blue exchanged looks at the sudden statement from the Legendary while the scientists and Steven stared at the Mew in shock.

Khrista shook her head. “The guy who caused all the chaos here dragged me here through that rip. I need to get back.”

“Do you think you can help?” Crystal asked.

Rosa looked between Crystal and Khrista with a concerned expression. _“Perhaps…you can’t create a pathway for yourself, child?”_

Khrista shook her head.

“Y-you know something about what is going on?” Steven asked. He tried to keep an even, curious tone, but his voice shook with awe at first.

Rosa turned to look over at the Hoenn Champion and nodded. _“Khrista is a World Jumper by proxy – something that others may call a ‘first generation’. She has traveled to other dimensions before and is capable of adapting rather well, but she is unable to find her way between dimensions on her own – she has to rely on others to get her to those places.”_

Khrista sucked in a breath a little as her eyes widened in surprise.

“World Jumper,” Steven repeated thoughtfully. “I don’t think I’ve heard of such people before.”

 _“I would be surprised if you had,”_ Rosa replied. _“They tend to be rather secretive and hardly reveal themselves.”_

“You haven’t met Maria,” Khrista responded. “ _Everybody_ knows she’s a World Jumper, especially considering that she makes portals.”

 _“So she’s the reason that you are a World Jumper then.”_ Rosa nodded. _“I know of a Pokémon who should be able to return you to your home, and I can take you to him directly. Hopefully, he’ll be willing to cooperate.”_

“If I have to prove anything to him, I think I can manage.” Khrista grinned. Then she looked over at the Pokémon gathered in the room, ears twitching before she looked at Crystal with a thoughtful expression. “How far are you?”

“H-huh?” Crystal blinked in confusion.

“The League Challenge.”

“Oh! I’m going to be heading out to Mossdeep in a day or two, and then to Ever Grande. I’ve got all my Badges, so the Elite Four’s next, I guess?” Crystal rubbed the back of her head. “Why?”

“I know the line-up.” When Khrista saw Crystal’s confused expression, she elaborated. “The Pokémon that the Elite Four are going to use. I know their teams, their attacks, and their strengths and weaknesses. If you want a few pointers—“

Crystal shook her head. “Thank you, but I’ve made it this far without people helping me. I think I’ll be OK taking them on on my own without any advice.”

Khrista blinked in surprise at that, then smiled a little and nodded. “All right then. Good luck, then. I’m guessing that’s not all your team, but knowing how you were able to stand against me, you should be just fine.” She looked over at Rosa and nodded. “Let’s get going. I want to go home.”

Rosa nodded. _“Of course.”_ She held out a paw, which Khrista gripped in one hand. _“Crystal, I will be speaking with you later before you go to challenge the League in this region.”_

“All right.” Crystal blinked in confusion as her ears twitched at the comment. “I’ll either be here or in Mossdeep.”

Rosa gave another nod, then narrowed her eyes slightly in focus.

_FWASH!_

A moment later, Khrista and Rosa were gone.

A moment later, one of the scientists spluttered, regaining his voice. “Th-that was – that was a Mew!”

“Yeah, it was,” Blue responded, his voice taking on a snarky tone. “And she’s also Crystal’s sister and she’s really good at hiding.”

“He should know; he tried to hunt her down for a good year.” Red gave Blue a sly grin.

“And _you_ got lessons from her on how to hide!” Blue poked Red in the chest pointedly, scowling.

“B-but that means that Mew is _real.”_ The scientist looked like he was at a loss for words. “I-I knew that Mew _two_ existed, but I-I thought he was just…made from some other Pokémon that was similarly cat-like.”

Crystal jerked back a little at the comment. “Then what do you have to say about me?” Her ears and tail twitched irritably.

The scientist spluttered in response.

“It’s hard to believe that other dimensions actually exist,” Steven commented thoughtfully. “And that there are people living in them that are almost exactly like us. You have to admit, Crystal, that you and Khrista looked strikingly similar.”

“Khrista is different, though,” Crystal responded. “I-I mean, she said she used to be completely human, but then she was changed. She seems to be a lot more confident, too. And tired.”

“Well, I should think that traveling to other worlds would be extremely tiring,” Steven remarked. “I wonder what her world is like and how different it is from our own.”

Crystal hummed a little, nodding slightly in response. “Yeah…and I wonder who exactly Maria is. If she is like Aria, but different…how different is she?”

“Well, if she ever comes over here and turns the League on its head by completely demolishing it like she did with hers, I think you’ll be able to find out,” Riley replied shortly.

Steven chuckled. “If she ever does, I’d like to stand against her and see just how strong she is. She sounds like a truly formidable opponent.” He looked at Crystal. “Speaking of which, I hope to see you in Ever Grande soon. I look forward to the challenge you’ll put on the Elite Four.”

Crystal nodded in agreement, a determined spark appearing in her eyes. “I hope that I’ll live up to your expectations.”

“Considering that you’ve saved the world? I think that you will.”

**Time Break – A Week Later**

“I can’t believe we’re finally here….”

Crystal leaned back to look up at the large building in front of them, trying to take in every bit of the architecture that she possibly could.

“It is pretty incredible,” Richie agreed from where he was standing next to her. His stance wavered for a moment, but he managed to regain his balance and he shook his head. “I could do with getting healed up right now, though.”

“Oh!” Crystal quickly tore her gaze away from the building’s roof and looked at the Gallade and the rest of her team. “R-right! Let’s get in there and get you guys healed up!”

Crystal quickly moved to the doors of the building and pushed them open, allowing her team of six to stumble inside before they all made a beeline for the counter that a Nurse Joy happened to be standing behind.

“Oh, my!” Nurse Joy blinked in surprise. “It looks like you’ve had quite the day!”

“You could say that.” Crystal gave a shaky smile. “You wouldn’t mind—“

“Of course not. We’ve been expecting you to make an appearance, so I’ve been prepared for your arrival since yesterday!”

“Yesterday?” Samuel’s head perked up instantly. “Don’t tell me we were in that cave for two days!”

“There’s no way that we were; we went in early this morning,” Crystal pointed out in reply.

“Victory Road never takes all that long for challengers to pass though,” Nurse Joy responded with a slight shake of her head. “You weren’t in there for two days; of that, I can assure you. However, you are going to need a proper night’s sleep before you can go and challenge the League.”

Crystal nodded in response. “I thought that would be the case.”

“All right. Let me make sure that you’re all not seriously injured, and I’ll have Chansey lead you to your room for the night.”

“Thanks.” Crystal nodded, then motioned for her team to follow her as they followed Nurse Joy out of the lobby and into an adjoining hallway. She took in a deep breath as her aching feet throbbed and her heart pounded.

They were finally there. And tomorrow, as soon as the sun rose, they were going to challenge the Elite Four.


	80. Elite Four, part 1

Crystal wasn’t sure what they were going to come up against for the Elite Four. Yes, Khrista had known and offered to help, but Crystal hadn’t taken her offer.

As a result, she stepped into the first chamber with her team waiting in their PokeBalls and a confused look on her face when she saw the man sitting in the chair backwards on the other side of the room.

The nearly-bald man lifted his head from the back of the chair and grinned when he saw Crystal come to a stop on the other side of the battlefield.

“Well well well! I’d heard that we’d had a challenger come in last night, but I didn’t think that you’d try to take us on as soon as you woke up this morning!” The man rose from his chair, still grinning cheerily. “The name’s Sidney. Welcome to the Elite Four, kiddo!”

“Thanks,” Crystal replied, a little taken aback by the man’s cheery nature. “I’m Crystal.”

“Crystal?” Sidney cocked his head to one side for a moment, then snapped his fingers. “Oh, yeah! Stevie said you’d be coming! I was starting to wonder if you’d ever show up, little hero!” He grabbed a PokeBall off his belt and lifted it up, grinning. “Do you think you’ve got what it takes to face the Elite Four head-on?”

“I think so!” Crystal replied with as much conviction as she could.

“Good! Because we’re going to push you to your limits! Mighteyna, go!”

The PokeBall exploded open, releasing the familiar form of a black and white, four-legged Pokémon with red eyes. The Dark-Type growled at Crystal, hackles rising.

Crystal took a step back nervously as the Intimidate hit her full-force, but then she saw a different, kinder face in the place of the enemy Pokémon’s for a moment, and she shook her head and threw the Intimidate off.

“I can do this. I know that Dark-Types aren’t _all_ bad; I can do this.” She quickly grabbed a PokeBall off her belt and threw it forward, yelling, “Samuel! Take him out!”

Samuel exploded out of the PokeBall and lunged forward, swinging one fist and lashing out against the Mighteyna. The attack hit the Dark-Type in the face and sending him skidding back a couple feet.

The Mighteyna shook his head and growled a little, glaring at Samuel.

“We know how to deal with these fellows,” Sidney commented, grinning. “Take Down, now!”

Mighteyna howled, then charged forward.

“Intercept!” Crystal responded.

“Winding up for a _punch!”_ Samuel threw a paw back, then slammed it forward into the Mighteyna’s nose as it became covered in green energy, resulting in the Mighteyna getting sent back yet again, shaking his head and suddenly looking unstable on his feet. The Dark-Type attempted to stay standing upright, but then he collapsed.

“Not bad for a start.” Sidney nodded as he returned his first Pokémon. “But if your Breloom is a physical attacker, let’s see what he thinks of this! Sharpedo!”

The second PokeBall exploded open, releasing a dark blue-and-white Pokémon with an X-shaped yellow splotch on the Pokémon’s nose. He shook his fins out and snarled, eyes narrowing as he glared at Samuel and Crystal.

Crystal didn’t feel the affect of an Intimidate this time. “Sharpedo…? That’s a Water and Dark-Type. OK, Samuel! Go all out!”

“Yeah!” Samuel hopped from one foot to the other, then swung his tail around and sent a number of green spheres flying. “Seed Bomb time!”

The resulting blast of Grass-Type energy was barely avoided; Sharpedo zipped off as soon as the first attack hit him, circling around the battlefield at high speed.

“Whoa!” Crystal jumped back in surprise as the large Pokémon nearly collided with her.

“Poison Fang!” Sidney exclaimed, grinning. “That should put the Grass-Type out of commission!”

“Samuel, look—“

Sharpedo turned sharply and clamped teeth glowing purple onto Samuel’s tail, causing the Breloom to let out a shriek of pain and lash his body so that the Water/Dark-Type was forced to let go.

“Ow!” Samuel lashed his tail back and forth; Crystal also winced back, her invisible tail twitching sympathetic as her ears flicked back. “Okay, you’re gonna pay for that!” The Breloom’s form glowed bright green. “Giga Drain!”

Sharpedo’s body glowed bright green in response, and a large green orb leeched off him and shot over to Samuel. Moments later, Sharpedo’s body collapsed to the ground.

“You’ve got a lot more power than I’d expected,” Sidney commented, returning the Sharpedo. “Don’t think that it’s going to keep being easy, though! Shiftry!”

The third PokeBall exploded open, releasing a large, mostly-brown Pokémon with a large, fan-like hands.

“Erika has one of those,” Crystal muttered to herself. She grabbed a PokeBall from her belt and threw it. “Samuel, pull back! Ando, X-Scissor!”

The PokeBall exploded as Samuel retreated, and the Armaldo landed on the battlefield seconds before he dashed forward, claw-like arms glowing with a strange, light green energy.

“Leaf Blade!” Sidney called.

The two attacks collided, Ando’s arms connecting with Shiftry’s fans. The two Pokémon pushed against each other, growling through gritted teeth and glaring at each other with such ferocity that it was surprising that neither one had managed to break through yet.

“Come on, come on…” Crystal murmured, clenching her fists as though she was the one fighting against the Shiftry herself.

Ando seemed to sense her determination; his tail slammed against the ground and he pushed harder against his opponent, then slashed widely with his arms, getting the other Pokémon in the chest. The Shiftry screeched in response and stumbled back, looking thrown off for a moment before Ando was on him again, slashing a second time with another X-Scissor.

Shiftry stumbled, then collapsed.

“You’re going through my team a lot more quickly than I’d like,” Sidney commented, frowning. “How strong are your Pokémon?”

“Well, they’re all around 50, at least?” Crystal shrugged. “Why?”

“Well, then I’d better step up my game! Cacturne, you’re up!”

Sidney’s next PokeBall released a green, humanoid Pokémon that looked like some kind of scarecrow, causing Crystal to blink in surprise for a moment before nodding slightly.

“Another Grass-Type,” Crystal guessed. “Ando, you’ve got this!”

“Indeed.” Ando smirked a little, then dashed forward again and moved to slice through the Cacturne.

“S-spiky Shield!” Sidney said quickly.

Cacturne raised his arms, and the green diamonds that were on his arms suddenly expanded into large, long spikes that Ando collided into instead of the Cacturne’s body. The Armaldo made a bellow of pain and stumbled back quickly, startled.

“Stevie didn’t say anything about your Armaldo being able to _talk_ ,” Sidney complained, frowning. “How can he do that?”

Crystal blinked as Ando lunged forward again. Cacturne tried to bring up another Spiky Shield, but the diamonds didn’t expand like they had before, leaving him wide open to another X-Scissor. “You mean his can’t? Ando was talking as soon as we got to Dewford; I thought it was just because he was around humans more than his own species – which are technically extinct, by the way.”

Cacturne collapsed with a moan, and Ando moved back as the Pokémon was returned to his PokeBall.

“Huh.” Sidney pulled the last ball off his belt. “I guess I’ll have to have a talk with Stevie and find out if he’s been hiding somethin’ from me. I don’t think that you’ll be getting past my last, Pokémon, however! Absol, go! Aerial Ace!”

The PokeBall exploded open, and a black-and-white Pokémon suddenly lashed forward and slashed past Ando before swinging around and landing in front of Sidney again.

Ando stumbled, then shook his head as he moved to regain his balance.

“You’re not going to get past my fast Absol,” Sidney said, grinning.

“We’ll see about that,” Crystal murmured to herself. “Ando! Go wild!”

“Right!” Ando crouched down for a moment, then let out a screeching roar that seemed to cause the air to shake. He slammed a foot into the ground, summoning large rocks out of thin air before throwing them at the Absol. A moment later, he dashed forward, claws glowing with Bug power again.

“Absol!” Sidney barked.

Absol crouched as the rocks slammed into him, then leapt forward suddenly, becoming a blur again and slashed past Ando.

Ando stumbled as his X-Scissor faded from his arms, dropping down onto one knee as Absol landed again and looked back.

“He’s going down,” Samuel muttered from behind Crystal.

Crystal gritted her teeth a little, her ears flicking back. “Ando, come back! Samuel, finish him off!”

“With pleasure!” Samuel leapt forward as Crystal returned Ando to his PokeBall before he could collapse to the floor. The Breloom seemed to be faintly glowing purple, but he didn’t look at all exhausted. If anything, he looked even more energetic.

Absol’s nose twitched. “Poison Heal,” he muttered.

Samuel hopped from one foot to the other, grinning confidently. “Oh, yeah.” He drew back a fist, then lunged forward and slammed a Vacuum Wave into the Absol’s face, sending him flying back and into the wall behind Sidney, effectively knocking the Dark-Type out.

_Ding!_

The doors behind Sidney slid open, causing him to turn and look at them in surprise before looking back at Crystal. “Not bad. And it looks like you’ve managed to overcome any rumored fear that you might have had about Dark-Types.” He returned the Absol to his PokeBall and stepped aside. “Go ahead and take on the next member of the Elite Four, kiddo. I’d like to see how far you’re going to be able to go!”

Crystal nodded in response, then looked at Samuel before starting towards the doorway and out into the hallway beyond. As they stepped out of Sidney’s room – and the door closed behind them – she reached into her backpack and handed Samuel a Pecha Berry. “Here.”

“Aw, come on, seriously?” Samuel frowned.

“Poison Heal may help you keep your health up, but it’s still going to be eating away at your defense,” Crystal replied seriously. “I want you guys at your full strength, remember?” She released Ando from his PokeBall and gave him a Sitrus Berry before pulling a Hyper Potion out of her backpack and checking him over for injuries. “Besides, I don’t know who we’re going to be fighting yet, so I’m going to need everybody’s help.”

Ando swallowed the Sitrus Berry and winced at the sting from the Hyper Potion as he nodded.

Samuel huffed, then looked down at the Pecha Berry and swallowed it. The purple glow faded from his skin moments later. “All right, fine.”

Crystal nodded to him, then noticed a garbage can nearby and dropped the empty Hyper Potion bottle into it before looking down the hall towards the doorway on the end. The walls seemed to be decorated to make the area look like some kind of lake. “This is a lot different from that other hallway…maybe the members of the Elite Four designed them?”

“Looks like we’re getting a Water-Type next,” Samuel guessed, looking at the walls.

Then a small, ghostly purple light sped past his face, causing the Breloom to yelp in surprise. More then started to appear on the walls, streaming towards the closed door on the other side, and gathered together almost like hanging lanterns over the entrance as the door opened.

“I don’t think Water-Types do that sort of thing.” Crystal frowned. “Samuel, Ando, return. Something tells me I’m going to need different Pokémon for this fight.”

Samuel and Ando exchanged looks, then returned to their PokeBalls as Crystal started forward and passed through the doorway.

The next room was just as large as Sidney’s, although instead of a man standing on the other side, there was a young woman with brown skin wearing pink flowers in her hair.

“Hello.” The woman gave a nod in greeting. “I’m Phoebe. Congratulations for making it this far.”

“Thanks.” Crystal nodded. “I’m Crystal.”

“The one who summoned Rayquaza to help calm Kyogre and Groudon, yes.” Phoebe smiled. “Thank you for that. My grandparents on top of Mt. Pyre were more than relieved when Rayquaza himself returned the Red and Blue Orbs to their resting place.”

“I was just doing what anyone else would have done,” Crystal replied, ducking her head a little.

“Maybe. But you were there at the right place and the right time.” Phoebe pulled out a PokeBall. “Now, are you ready to face me? I honed my skills on top of Mt. Pyre; I had spirits as my mentors.”

“I think we can handle whatever you throw at us,” Crystal replied, grabbing a PokeBall off her belt. “I’ve been to Lavender Town’s Pokémon Tower. I’m not afraid of Ghosts.”

Phoebe grinned. “Excellent! Dusclops, go!”

“Mike, get out here!”

The two PokeBalls exploded at the same time, releasing Crystal’s Mighteyna and a Phoebe’s chosen Hoenn Ghost-Type. The creature’s hands hovered away from his body, then pulled back in.

Mike growled, raising his hackles.

 _“No Intimidate,”_ Dusclops muttered.

“Crunch!” Crystal ordered.

Mike let out a bark and lunged forward, biting down hard on one of the floating hands and getting such an unearthly shriek from the Dusclops that he retreated immediately, ears flicking back at the harshness of the noise.

Mike snarled, then shook his head and lunged forward again, biting Dusclops in the side this time and really sinking his teeth in. The Ghost-Type winced back again, his hands glowing with power as he attempted to whack Mike away, but Mike only bit in deeper.

Dusclops stumbled, then collapsed, causing Mike to dance back a little in order to avoid getting pulled down with the Ghost-Type.

“You’ve got a pretty powerful pup there,” Phoebe commented as she returned Dusknoir. “Let’s see how he fares against this Pokémon! Go, Sableye!”

“Play Rough!” Crystal yelled quickly.

Mike was on the Ghost/Dark-Type right as it fully materialized; the two Pokémon disappeared into a gigantic cloud of dust as fighting sounds came from within before Mike emerged with hardly a scratch. When the dust cloud cleared a second later, the Sableye was lying on the ground, out cold.

Phoebe blinked blankly. “Uh…well then.”

“We’ve fought against Sableye before,” Crystal offered in explanation.

“Apparently.” Phoebe returned the knocked out Pokémon before grabbing her next PokeBall. “I doubt that you’ve fought against this Pokémon however! Go, Banette!”

The Pokémon that materialized on the battlefield clearly looked like a ghost of some kind, with a zipper across the mouth and glowing purple eyes. The creature gave a muffled laugh.

Mike growled. “Smells like a Shuppet.”

“Must have evolved from one,” Crystal replied. “Which means that it’s probably _at least_ part-Ghost.” She paused. “Try another Crunch; let’s see how much damage it’ll take.”

Mike nodded, then bounced forward.

“Will O’ Wisp!” Phoebe directed.

Banette threw its arms back, then thrust them forward; little balls of purple flame appeared and collided with Mike, who ran through them and bit down hard on one of the Ghost-Type’s outstretched arms.

The muffled screech that followed sounded vaguely like swearing; Banette shook Mike off, and he bounded back to stand in front of Crystal, looking more than a little singed.

Crystal frowned. “Your Banette has quite the mouth.”

Phoebe sighed. “I know; he gets it from my other Pokémon. Feint Attack!”

“Crunch!”

The two Pokémon charged at each other again, although this time Mike managed to get to the Banette first; he bit down hard on the Ghost-Type’s neck, getting another muffled screech.

Mike let go and turned to run back to Crystal, whapping Banette in the face with his tail in the process and causing the Ghost-Type to go down.

“I’d better pull out my trump card to make sure that you don’t get any further and completely demolish my team!” Phoebe returned Banette and pulled out another PokeBall. “Dusknoir, go!”

The PokeBall released a large Ghost Pokémon with a rather rotund shape and a large, second face on his stomach.

“The evolved form of Dusclops?” Crystal guessed. “Mike, go get him!”

“OK!” Mike bounced forward again, strangely _faster_ than he had been before he took the Will O’ Wisp from the Banette. He lunged for the Dusknoir and bit down hard on one of the opponent Pokémon’s hands.

“Fire Punch!”

Dusknoir’s other hand suddenly burst into flames, and she swung around and punched Mike hard in the side, getting a yelp from the Mightyena and nearly sending him flying into a nearby wall; the Dark-Type was able to maneuver himself so that he could hit his feet against the wall and leap off it towards the Dusknoir again.

“Is it just me, or is your Mighteyna moving faster?” Phoebe asked, frowning.

“He doesn’t have Intimidate, he has Quick Feet,” Crystal replied with a confident smile. “As soon as you hit him with the Will O’ Wisp, his speed went up.”

Mike ran for Dusknoir again as the Ghost-Type shook out the hand that had been hit with the Crunch.

“Huh. Now that’s what I call strategy.” Phoebe nodded in approval, then grinned. “It isn’t going to be enough, though! Fire Punch!”

Dusknoir swung in for another hit, taking another Crunch from Mike before the Mighteyna was once again sent flying. This time, he wasn’t coordinated enough to orient himself in the air; paws and legs akimbo, he slammed into the wall and collapsed.

“That’s one down,” Phoebe said with a grin.

“We’re not done yet!” Crystal returned Mike and looked at his PokeBall in concern before grabbing the next one. “Go, Amy! Hit that Dusknoir with a Play Rough!”

The PokeBall exploded open, and the Azumaril promptly shot out, using the momentum from the release in order to boost her speed before slamming into the opposing Ghost-Type and disappearing into a gigantic dust cloud.

“How many of your Pokémon know that move?” Phoebe demanded, frowning.

“Just two.” Crystal reattached Mike’s PokeBall to her belt as the dust cloud faded and Amy danced back; Dusknoir lay on the floor, knocked out. “You have one left now, right?”

Phoebe gritted her teeth a little. “Banette, go! Use Toxic!”

“Play Rough!”

Amy charged at the Banette again, slamming into the Pokémon and throwing up another dust cloud. Crystal thought she could hear the enemy Pokémon actually shriek this time, rather than just make a muffled screech. The noise was cut off suddenly, however, and when Amy retreated and the dust cloud settled, the Banette was, once again, thoroughly knocked out.

_Ding!_

Phoebe stared at the unconscious form of her knocked-out Pokémon as the doors behind her opened, revealing the way to the next member of the Elite Four. She looked up at Crystal with an amazed expression. “This has to be a record. I haven’t seen anyone go through my Pokémon so quickly before.”

“Really?” Crystal blinked in surprise as Amy returned to her side. Seeing that the Azumaril was glowing an off purple, she handed the Pokémon a Pecha Berry, which Amy swallowed eagerly.

“Yeah. You must’ve trained those two pretty well if they’re able to take my Pokémon out that fast.”

Amy snorted.

“Actually, I only trained Mike; Amy used to have another Trainer, but she got released and helped me out for a while,” Crystal explained. “She decided to officially join my team a few days ago.” She reached for Mike’s PokeBall while grabbing a large medicine spray bottle from her backpack, releasing the tired Mighteyna and going over him carefully, spraying the burns and other injuries that he had picked up over the course of the match.

“Really? Well, lucky you.” Phoebe nodded, then stepped to one side and motioned to the door behind her; a cold breeze seemed to slip through into the room. “Well, you managed to get past me, but I don’t think that you’ll be able to get past the third member of the Elite Four. She’s got a lot more tricks up her sleeve and can and will completely crush you.”

“We’ll see about that,” Crystal replied, rising to her feet. She nodded to Mike and Amy, who returned to their PokeBalls, then strode across the room towards the open door.


	81. Elite Four, part 2

As soon as she stepped through, Crystal was hit by a blast of cold air that caused her to shiver in surprise. The walls seemed to be covered in frost, and the floor was slick with ice.

“I guess I know who I’m using next,” Crystal muttered. She moved quickly through the hall and entered the next room, which was somewhat warmer, but not by all that much.

The woman standing on the other side of the room in a long, elegant, formal dress looked at Crystal and nodded in greeting, smiling a little. “Greetings. I am Glacia.”

“Crystal,” Crystal replied, nodding back in response.

“Yes, I know; word travels quickly when your fellow members are being defeated one by one by the girl who saved the world and Steven speaks so highly of. You must have a rather diverse team if you’ve been able to defeat half of us.”

“What kind of Trainer wouldn’t I be if I didn’t?” Crystal responded. “It’s good to have a diverse team – I’ve learned that much.”

“Indeed.” Glacia held up a PokeBall. “However, I doubt that your diversity will be able to get past my wall of ice. But let’s see if you can, shall we? Glalie!”

The PokeBall opened, releasing a large, ice-covered sphere that looked like a gigantic head of some kind.

“Richie!”

Crystal’s own PokeBall opened, letting the Gallade leap out.

“Vacuum Wave!” Crystal ordered quickly.

“Hail,” Glacia responded calmly.

Glalie’s wide grin seemed to become even wider as the horns on top of the Pokémon’s head seemed to rattle, summoning clouds indoors up near the ceiling. Little white, frozen raindrops started plinking down into the ground moments later as Richie lunged forward and set off the move at the Glalie.

The Ice-Type Pokémon winced back as the attack hit, then shook itself and glared at Richie.

Richie winced as a piece of hail hit him in the head, then shook himself and frowned before running forward again, ramming into the Glalie with another Vacuum Wave and causing the Ice-Type to get sent flying back and skidding across the ground like a rock getting skipped across a pond.

Glacia returned the Glalie before he could collide with the wall before grabbing another PokeBall. “I would like to see how well you handle this Pokémon. Froslass!”

The Pokémon that came out of the PokeBall this time had a full body rather than a head, and appeared to be far more elegant seemed to be wearing a dress some kind.

Richie looked nervous suddenly, stiffening a little. “I don’t think I’ll be able to do anything.”

Crystal frowned, and her eyes sparked with a bright blue for a moment. Her eyes widened a moment later. “Part-Ghost! Richie, pull back – Mike, go! Use Crunch!”

The Gallade quickly retreated as Mike exploded out of his PokeBall and slammed into the Froslass, biting down hard on the Pokémon. The unearthly shriek that the Pokémon unleashed made Crystal’s ears flick back as she winced.

Mike’s ears flicked back, as well, but he bit down far harder, refusing to let go as the dark energy of the Crunch did its dirty work. It didn’t take long for the Froslass to collapse, and Mike quickly returned to stand in front of Crystal with his hackles raised. He barely noticed the hail that was still coming down.

“Interesting.” Glacia returned the Frosslass and grabbed another PokeBall. “I can see now why you managed to surpass Phoebe and Sydney so quickly. But I doubt that you will be able to stand against me for long. Glalie, Ice Shard!”

Another Glalie made an appearance and cackled before unleashing a blast of sharp, icicle-like shard of ice that slammed into Mike, causing the Mighteyna to let out a yelp of pain.

“Mike, come back! Richie, Vacuum Wave again!” Crystal quickly pulled the switch, sending the Gallade at the Glalie for a second time.

“This feels like déjà vu,” Richie muttered, swinging and hitting his opponent.

“She has two Glalie,” Crystal replied. “And probably two Froslass too.”

“Oh.”

“Protect!” Glacia called; the Vacuum Wave bounced harmlessly off the unseen shield. “And Ice Shard!”

“Shock Wave!”

The blast of electricity met the ice attack, causing an explosion that sent the ice shrapnel in all directions. Richie pulled up a Protect shield in front of himself in order to defend against the results as Crystal pulled up a Barrier for a moment in order to keep herself from getting damaged.

Richie dropped the Protect, then lunged forward and set off another Vacuum Wave as the Glalie shook off his surprise from getting hit with his own attack. Seconds later, the Ice-Type collapsed to the floor with a dull _clang_.

Glacia returned the Glalie. “Walrein!”

Crystal blinked in surprise. “What—“

_THUD!_

A large, blubbery blue and white Pokémon landed on the battlefield and let out a bellow as the hail stopped falling.

Crystal blinked in confusion for a moment, then shook her head. “Right! I remember Archie saying something about this – Water and Ice! Shock Wave!”

“Sheer Cold!”

The room started to grow colder suddenly; Richie leapt forward as the cold started to concentrate on where he had been standing a moment ago, shooting off a Shock Wave that caused the large Pokémon to bellow in pain. Richie managed to escape from the attack unaffected; instead, there was left an ice-white spot on the floor that started steaming almost instantly.

Crystal gulped when she saw the spot, getting the feeling that it could have caused an instant knock-out if Richie had been any slower.

“Hm. We are very close in level, it seems,” Glacia noted. “That lowers its accuracy…Blizzard!”

“Shock Wave again!” Crystal retaliated.

Walrein pulled his head back, then blew, releasing a flurry of wind, ice, and snow that was sent careening across the battlefield towards Richie as he threw off another Shock Wave. The two attacks went flying past each other – the electricity sparking in the ice storm as it went – and both hit their marks.

Crystal yelped and quickly threw up a Barrier instinctively in order to avoid getting hit with the Blizzard herself as Richie threw his arms up and took the blast. Snow and ice collected on his arms and legs, building up as the Blizzard faded.

Richie lowered his arms and shook them out, then started moving his legs a little in order to get the snow and ice off while Crystal dropped her Barrier. “This stuff is really gonna slow me down….”

“Can you use Vacuum Wave?” Crystal asked worriedly.

“Maybe?” Richie readied himself, then started to move again, intent on attacking the Walrein with the Fighting-Type attack. However, he was moving much more slowly than he had been before the Blizzard, no doubt weighed down by the ice and snow that now coated his limbs.

“Surf,” Glacia said casually.

Walrein almost seemed to grin as the Pokémon raised his front flippers. As soon as he slammed them down, a wave of water rose up – the Water/Ice-Type on top of it – and flew forward across the battlefield.

“Richie!” Crystal exclaimed.

Richie drew back his arm and flung it forward, slicing into Walrein as the wave of water smacked into him and rolled over him, temporarily taking him out of sight as the water sprawled across the battlefield. He came up a moment later, spluttering and gasping for breath as Walrein circled around and settled back in front of Glacia. The opponent Pokémon did start to look a little haggard, but Richie looked as though he was in a far worse position.

“Riche, switch out with Samuel!” Crystal directed quickly, grabbing two PokeBalls from her belt before holding them forward.

One PokeBall flew open as the other sucked Richie off the battlefield, quickly replacing him with the Breloom.

“Seed Bomb!” Crystal exclaimed quickly.

“You got it!” Samuel summoned a number of glowing green spheres and threw them at the Walrein.

“Sheer Cold!” Glacia countered—only for Walrein to collapse as a result of the exploding seeds that Samuel threw. “Well. It seems that you have brought me down to my last Pokémon. Let’s see if you’re able to defeat her. Froslass, Hail!”

“Samuel, switch out for Mike!” Crystal directed. “Mike, use Crunch!”

Mike bounded forward as Samuel retreated while the hail started to fall again; he slammed into the Ice/Ghost-Type and bit down hard on the Pokémon’s middle.

Froslass let out a shriek and shook Mike off, causing him to scramble back and turn around half-way across the battlefield.

“Play Rough!” Crystal ordered.

“Draining Kiss,” Glacia responded.

Mike bounded forward again and threw himself into a fight cloud with Froslass as the other Pokémon seemed to be preparing something with her mouth behind her hands.

Well, whatever it was, Froslass never got the chance to follow through on it. The next thing that Crystal was able to properly see was Mike bounding out and away from the fight cloud and Froslass collapsing to the floor.

_Ding!_

“Well done.” Glacia returned Froslass’ unconscious form. “You know how to take advantage of how diverse your team is, and you clearly know their strengths and weaknesses as well. I would like to see how you manage to get past the last of us.”

Crystal nodded in response, then exchanged looks with Mike before heading out of the room and into the next hall.

Crystal was instantly hit with an oppressive heat, not unlike a volcano.

“Woof!” Mike shook himself out as Crystal looked over him and sprayed a few scratches and bruises with a Hyper Potion. “Are we fighting Fire-Types next?”

Crystal looked over at the draconic-like shape that was over the door on the other side of the hall as she released Richie and Samuel before going over them with Hyper Potions, as well. “I don’t know. Maybe. There could be one other Type, though….” She quickly tapped the PokeBalls on her waist, and the three Pokémon returned. Then she quickly made her way across the hall and into the next room, where the heat was not as unbearable.

“Welcome to the final stage,” spoke the older man in a captain’s outfit on the other side of the room. “I am Drake, of the Elite Four.”

 _Dragon._ Crystal nodded to herself. “I’m Crystal, the challenger.”

“Yes. You have made it this far – quite admirable. At this point, I doubt we need to say anything to each other – the battle will do the speaking for us! Altaria, go!”

“Amy, go!”

Two PokeBalls exploded, releasing the Azumaril and Altaria.

“You know what to do!” Crystal called.

“Dragon Pulse!” Drake directed.

“Oh no you don’t!” Amy started running forward as her opponent charged up his attack. “ _Play Rough!”_

The resulting fight cloud caused the Altaria to cut off his own attack, resulting in a chocked noise and an explosion of dragonfire that burst out of the fight cloud, momentarily breaking it for a moment before it covered the two Pokémon again.

Seconds later, Amy jumped back and out of the cloud, revealing that Altaria had taken some damage, but not much.

“Going in for round 2!” Amy ran forward again.

“Cotton Guard!” Drake ordered.

Atlaria pulled her wings in close around her as Amy rammed into the Dragon-Type again, once again pulling them into a fight cloud. When Amy danced back, the blue and white, fluffy Pokémon was lying on the floor, knocked out.

“Kingdra!” Drake barked, tossing forward his next Pokémon as he returned Altaria. “Yawn!”

The seahorse-like Pokémon that came of the PokeBall made a yawning noise, then shook his head. Amy mimicked the noise a moment later.

“Uh oh. Amy, pull back! Samuel, you’re up!” Crystal quickly switched the two, bringing out the Breloom. “Seed Bomb!”

Samuel burst out of his PokeBall and threw a large number of large seeds at the Kindra as he started to yawn again.

One of the seeds got caught in Kingdra’s snout.

_Boom!_

“Yewouch!” Kingdra pulled back, shaking his head as a plume of smoke rose from his mouth, an expression of alarm on his face.

“Ice Beam!”

Kindra shook his head one last time, then pulled his head back slightly and fired off a beam of cold that hit Samuel in the chest.

“Gah!” Samuel stumbled back as the ice settled on his chest. He made a noise of pain, then dropped to his knees. “So…cold….”

Crystal returned Samuel before he collapsed to the floor, then grabbed Amy’s PokeBall again and released the Azumaril, now wide awake again. “Play Rough!”

“You got it!” Amy lunged forward, then slammed into the Kingdra, causing the creature to make a noise of alarm as he was pulled into the fight cloud. Once again, when Amy pulled back, the opponent Pokémon was fainted.

“Salamence! Thunder Fang!” Drake threw out his next PokeBall, releasing the large, red and blue dragon Pokémon that roared before lunging at Amy, catching the Azumaril in his jaws and clamping down with sparks flying from his fangs.

Amy let out a yell of pain that turned into a snarl, and she pulled the larger dragon into _another_ fight cloud as she activated Play Rough again. When the fight cloud cleared, Salamence appeared to be on his last legs, and Amy was lying on the ground limply.

Crystal gritted her teeth in worry before returning Amy to her PokeBall. Grabbing another one, she threw it, calling, “Trisha! Dragon Pulse!”

The Flygon burst out of her PokeBall and unleashed an explosion of blue-purple energy that hit Salamence in the face as the other dragon made a noise of surprise before keeling over.

“Flygon, Dragon Claw!” Drake threw his fourth PokeBall, releasing the next on his team.

“Dragon Rush!” Crystal countered.

Trisha and the other Flygon slammed into each other; claws raked against scales before the opponent Flygon was sent flying back into one of the nearby walls with a cry of pain.

Trisha let out a roar and landed on the ground in front of Crystal, claw marks from the Dragon Claw glowing on her shoulders. Her opponent tried to rise to his feet, but then collapsed.

“Flygon, Dragon Pulse!” Drake ordered, switching Pokémon.

The blast of blue-purple energy that followed caught Trisha in her chest and sent her flying back; Crystal barely had enough time to drop down to the floor before Trisha went flying over her head and into the back wall with a dull crash before she dropped to the ground, out cold.

“Trisha!” Crystal called in alarm.

“She was trained well, but you’re going to have to do better than that,” Drake said from his side of the battlefield. “That’s three of yours now. Who’s next?”

Crystal quietly returned Trisha to her PokeBall, then turned and looked back at Drake before grabbing the next one. “Mike! _Play Rough!”_

The Mighteyna exploded out of his PokeBall and collided with the opponent Flygon, throwing up a cloud of dust. Cries of anger and pain could be heard from within on both sides, and when the dust cleared…

Mike, fur tussled in all directions, threw back his head and howled in triumph as he stood over the knocked out Flygon.

“Yes!” Crystal let out a whoop of delight and threw her hands into the air as Mike came bounding over to her and leapt at his Trainer, pushing them both to the floor before Crystal was licked in the face by the happy Dark-Type.

“It seems that you have a deep bond with your Pokémon, if you’re able to bring out that much power.” Drake returned his last Pokémon as Crystal sat up to look at the last member of the Elite Four. “The fact that you manage to reach even me speaks more than you ever could on how much time you spend with them, knowing their strengths, weaknesses, and the best ways to bring out their power.” He stepped aside, the door opening behind him. “That power will carry you to greater places, and I should think that it may even surpass the Champion!” There was a glint in the old man’s eye. “But don’t underestimate the strongest Trainer in Hoenn.”

“I won’t.” Crystal rose to her feet, standing tall in front of Drake. She walked across the battlefield towards him, Mike at her side. “Thank you for the battle.”

Drake blinked in surprise at that, then snorted and shook his head. “Think nothing of it.” The smile that was barely hidden under his mustache seemed to say otherwise. “Now, get going, lass. You have one final challenge to overcome!”

Crystal nodded, then looked down at Mike before stepping through the doors. As she did, she reached into her backpack and pulled out a small number of Revives and Berries.

Before she went on to face Steven Stone, she wanted to make sure that she had everyone ready to take on his team.


	82. The Champion

When Crystal stepped off the stairs and out of the corridor, the last thing she was expecting to hear was a loud cacophony of cheers coming from all sides. She flinched back in surprise at the sound, blinking as she adjusted to the sunlight that was streaming down into the open battle colosseum…with a large crowd on all sides.

Crystal swallowed, suddenly feeling nervous. The _last_ four battles hadn’t had an audience – why did _this_ one?

“Welcome, challenger!”

Crystal looked up sharply at the familiar voice, her eyes widening in surprise when she saw Red flying above her using his own wings, Riley sitting on his Trainer’s back.

Red gave Crystal a sharp-toothed grin as he passed over her, circling around the battlefield. Crystal barely caught sight of Riley holding up a small microphone as they passed.

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the last round of the Elite Four, with Steven Stone as defending Champion and our challenger, Crystal Soul, hailing from Kanto!”

The crowd roared in response to Riley’s introduction of the two Trainers as Crystal looked up at them with a wide-eyed expression.

 _What was Red_ thinking, _revealing his wings and tail like that?! Who knew what sorts of people would come after him now?_

“I’m Riley, Pikachu and starter of this fine Trainer.” Riley patted Red’s head, causing the Kanto Champion to look up at him with a frown, his mouth quirking up into a slight smirk to show that he was actually amused by it. “I’ll be handling any commentary for you guys while Red does the refereeing! And yes, this is the Pikachu talking, and yes, Red’s actually got Charizard wings. It’s a long story. Also, hey! Crystal! Why don’t you show off a bit, huh?”

Crystal jolted at the Pikachu’s question. “A-ah—“

“Don’t push her,” Red said, his voice clearly different from Riley’s.

“But she doesn’t know!”

“Know what?” Crystal asked. She jumped in surprise when she heard her voice echo; was there a microphone near her that picked her voice up?

“Kid. They know about the Magnus kid, they’re gonna know about you pretty quick too.”

Riley’s deadpan tone caused Crystal’s invisible ears to flick back nervously.

“Crystal,” Steven called across from his side. “It’s all right. You can defend yourself, and if anyone comes after you, there are people who would be willing to defend you. I should think that you know that by now.”

Crystal bit her lower lip at that, hesitant. She knew there was truth in Steven’s words, but that didn’t mean that she was any less nervous about the idea of revealing what she really was to the rest of the world.

But, there was Red, flying above the battlefield without any sort of care or worry. If he was this confident, then….

Crystal swallowed, then took in a breath and dropped the illusion.

The ripple of gasps that came from the crowd as a result of Crystal’s revealing her ears and tail caused her tails to flick back as she looked around nervously at the large crowd, half-expecting someone to leap out and try to come at her.

But no one did.

 _“That’s so cool!”_ one voice called out from the crowd – a little boy’s by the sound of it. _“Is she part Pokémon?”_

Other voices soon followed, asking what kind of creature Crystal was partly, if she could do anything, what exactly it meant –

 _“Why were you hiding it?”_ the little boy’s voice called out again, practically screaming over the other voices that Crystal heard. Her ears swiveled at the sound of his voice, and she looked over in the direction the voice was coming from. Her eyes locked with a little blond boy’s blue eyes a short distance away from her.

Crystal swallowed as the other voices slowly faded – either because she wasn’t listening or because they had heard the boy as well and wanted to hear her answer.

“…I didn’t want to be hunted.” Crystal replied. “I’m part _Mew._ Do you know how many people would want the kind of power I have?”

The crowd was hushed at that.

“I…I don’t…” Crystal shook her head.

“Crystal.”

Crystal looked over at Steven, her ears and tail twitching back and forth nervously.

“You have Pokémon by your side who are capable of defending you, and not only are you capable of defending yourself, but you have allies who are more than willing to lend their health as well,” Steven said. “Don’t worry. We have your back.”

Crystal hesitated at that, then nodded a little.

“Now that we’ve got _that_ settled, we’ve got a battle to get to!” Riley called out. “I hope that talk didn’t bring down your mood too much, because we’ve got a final battle to get to! Trainers, get ready!”

Crystal nodded as loud cheers resounded from the crowd, and she grabbed her first PokeBall as Steven grabbed his.

“Begin!” Red yelled from above.

“Skarmory!” Steven threw his first PokeBall, releasing the familiar Steel bird.

“Trisha!” Crystal’s thrown PokeBall released the Flygon.

“Steel Wing!”

“Dragon Pulse!”

The Skarmory flew towards Trisha, who shot up and back before firing off a blue-purple beam of energy right in the Steel/Flying-Type’s face, which only slowed the opponent Pokémon down for a moment before he slammed into Trisha, slashing across her front with her wings before circling back and around.

“Aerial Ace!” Steven ordered.

“Dig – quickly!” Crystal directed.

Trisha dove towards the ground as Skarmory dove towards her, wings spread wide as the Pokémon seemed to burn with a bright light of his own. He almost collided with Trisha right then and there, but the Flygon managed to burrow underground at just that moment, forcing Skarmory to pull up and start circling the skies from a distance again.

 _“We need to hit him with a Rock Slide – that’ll get the wind out of his sails,”_ Crystal conveyed to Trisha. _“Come up and with a Dragon Pulse and then bring them down on him.”_

A moment later, Trisha exploded out of the ground with a blue-purple blast that caught Skarmory by surprise.

“Looks like a pre-planned attack!” Riley called. “Or is it? Crystal _does_ have telepathy, folks; I wouldn’t be surprised if she quickly pulled something off the top of her head!”

“Toxic!” Steven ordered.

“Now!” Crystal countered.

Trisha motioned with her claws, making a slamming down motion as rocks appeared above Skarmory as he prepared to unleash the poisonous barrage that would poison the Dragon/Ground-Type. The two moved collided at once, purple and brown merging and mixing together as the rocks bounced off Skarmory and send the Pokémon plummeting towards the battlefield below.

Trisha flew down after him, faltering for a few moments, but then managed to land in front of Crystal.

Crystal frowned. There was something off about Trisha’s wings…it was almost as though they were pulsing purple.

“Skarmory’s out of the match!” Red called as the crowd roared in response to the battle they had just witnessed.

“Armaldo, go!” Steven threw out his next PokeBall, releasing a creature similar to Ando.

Ando’s PokeBall rattled against Crystal’s belt, but she put a hand there to stay it as she looked down. “Not yet; Trisha’s still out there.” She looked back at Trisha and nodded. “Dragon Rush!”

“Metal Claw!” Steven directed.

Armaldo ran forward with a bellowing roar, claws sharpening with a metallic sheen as Trisha flew forward, a purple-blue aura overtaking her form as she let out a roar of her own. The collision that resulted caused both Pokémon to cry out in pain, causing Crystal to wince back in alarm.

Armaldo’s claws raked across Trisha before she was able to turn and smack him with her tail, causing the two of them to get thrown back a short distance from each other. The purple glow on Trisha’s wings seemed to increase in strength then, causing Trisha to wince and shake her head in order to keep the pain back.

“Uh-oh, looks like Skarmory’s Toxic actually managed to hit,” Riley called down. “Not good for Trisha; that’s going to eat away at her health and her defense until she’s out cold!”

“Dragon Pulse!” Crystal called.

“Crush Claw!” Steven called back.

Armaldo started running forward again as Trisha pulled herself upright and started to release the beam attack. Unfortunately, the Armaldo was far faster, and managed to slash at Trisha before she could even get a small ball of energy into her opponent’s face.

“Gah!” Trisha stumbled back, coughing on her own attack and gripping her chest, gritting her teeth. Her wings fluttered as she swayed back and forth, trying to keep her balance, but she collapsed all the same.

“Trisha!” Crystal exclaimed in alarm.

“Flygon is unable to battle!” Red called, once again to the roar of the crowd.

Crystal returned Trisha to her PokeBall, then looked across the battlefield at the Armaldo with a critical eye. Ando’s PokeBall rattled again against her belt, but she shook her head and reached for a different one.

“We need Type Advantage! Samuel, Vacuum Wave!”

The PokeBall exploded, releasing the Breloom just seconds before a blast of air was suddenly sucked in around one of his paws, the blast sent towards the Armaldo.

“Armaldo, X-Scissor!” Steven called back.

Armaldo’s claws glowed green, and the prehistoric Pokémon rushed towards Samuel. He met the Vacuum Wave that was coming towards him, however, and unable to dodge, was sent flying back instead, skidding against the ground a short distance before the attack abated. A moment later, the Armaldo fell to the ground.

“Armaldo is unable to battle!” Red exclaimed with a laugh from above.

“I wouldn’t want to meet that fist, that’s for sure!” Riley added.

Steven quickly switched Pokémon. “Aggron, go!”

The large, steel-covered Pokémon slammed exploded out of his PokéBall and slammed into the ground with a loud roar, startling a good number of the spectators at the noise.

“Whoa!” Crystal stumbled for a moment, then grinned. “Samuel, Vacuum Wave!”

“Iron Tail!” Steven called in response.

Aggron swung his tail, gleaming steel in the sunlight as Samuel lunged towards the larger monster, bringing another wind-bound paw back for another punch.

Fist met tail, and both Pokémon let out cries of pain before jumping back and away from each other.

“Giga Drain!” Crystal ordered. “Steer clear for now!”

“Earthquake!” Steven called back.

Samuel glowed green and sucked in a breath, puffing out his chest as Aggron growled, energy draining. Then the larger Pokémon lifted a foot and slammed it down into the ground.

The low rumble that followed quickly turned into a dull roar as cracks appeared in the earth; Crystal jumped up and hovered in mid-air, causing a few gasps of surprise as Samuel stumbled and tripped over the cracks in the ground that resulted from the Aggron’s attack.

“I’m glad I’m up here,” Riley commented as the ground settled and Crystal landed again. Samuel managed to push himself to his feet, but he looked like he was struggling in order to do so.

Red snorted as he circled around the battlefield again.

Samuel set off a second Giga Drain, causing Aggron to go down before he could set off another Earthquake, much to the Breloom’s satisfaction.

“Aggron is unable to battle!” Red called.

“Cradily, Sludge Bomb!”

Crystal jumped in surprise when Steven’s PokeBall exploded, releasing a green Pokémon with what looked like flower petals around his neck. Cradily reared back and unleashed a blast of sludgy poison, hitting Samuel and causing the Breloom to let out a yelp of pain as the poison settled in, causing him to fall back, knocked out.

“Breloom is unable to battle!”

“Couldn’t even activate the Poison Heal,” Crystal murmured as she returned Samuel to his PokeBall. She started to reach for another PokeBall, but then a _different_ PokeBall exploded open.

Ando formed on the battlefield and bellowed at the Pokémon on the other side of the battlefield, who reared back and made a cackling noise in response.

“Whoo boy!” Richie sounded impressed. “We’ve got a battle of the prehistoric Pokémon here!”

Crystal ignored him. “All right, if you want to do it that way…Ando, X-Scissor!”

Ando huffed, then lunged forward at the Cradily, claws glowing green. He slashed at the other Pokémon as the flower petals glowed in a myriad of colors.

Crystal squeezed her eyes shut and yelled, “X-Scissor again!”

Ando roared again, and Crystal heard the sound of slashing, followed by an unearthly screech that seemed to be coming from the Cradily. She cracked one eye open, then the other, and gained a triumphant grin when she saw that the opponent Pokémon had collapsed.

“Cradily is unable to battle!” Red called as Ando moved back to stand in front of Crystal.

“Crystal’s on a real roll here!” Riley chirped. “She’s taken out four of Steven’s Pokémon already and he’s only taken out two of hers!”

“Claydol, Earth Power!” Steven threw out his fourth PokeBall.

The large, clay doll erupted from his PokeBall and the ground shook again as the battlefield exploded under Ando’s feet, sending him flying up a short distance into the air before he landed face first on the ground.

“Ando!” Crystal called out in worry.

Ando tried to push himself up to his feet, but then the Pokémon let out a groan and collapsed.

“Ando is unable to battle!” Red called.

“Okay.” Crystal returned the Armaldo and quickly grabbed the next PokeBall. “Amy, go! We’ve got a Psychic/Ground-Type!”

The Azumaril burst out of her PokeBall. “On it!”

An instant later, a Surf swamped the battlefield, taking the Claydol with it.

“Claydol is unable to battle!” Red called.

Riley whistled. “That was a one-shot if I ever saw one! We’re down to one Pokémon for Steven now – let’s see what—“

“Metagross, Meteor Mash!”

Crystal’s eyes widened sharply as a giant, metal, four-legged monster of a Pokémon exploded out of his PokeBall, raised a leg, and slammed it into Amy, sending the Azumaril flying into the wall behind Crystal, knocked out cold.

“Azumaril is unable to battle!” Red called.

“Crystal’s got two left!” Riley added. “She’d better hope she makes the right decision here, because otherwise it could be curtains for her challenge! Trainers are only allowed to make this challenge once, you know, so it’s all down to the wire now!”

Crystal paused in the middle of choosing between her last two PokeBalls. She hadn’t been aware that she was only allowed to make the challenge _once._ That raised the stakes more than a little!

One of the PokeBalls shook, getting Crystal’s attention. She looked down at it, biting her lower lip for a second, then nodded and grabbed it.

“Richie, go!”

The Gallade landed on the uneven ground left behind from Aggron’s Earthquake and Claydol’s Earth Power and quickly made sure to keep his balance, holding one bladed arm up in front of himself defensively as he glared at the large Pokémon on the other side of the battlefield. There was something hanging around his neck – a necklace with a glowing stone set into what looked like a Mew-shaped icon.

Crystal reached for her shirt and gripped at something under her sweater. “Are you ready for this?”

Richie nodded without looking back, then closed his eyes at the same time as Crystal did. Then, at once, there came a bright light from under Crystal’s shirt and from the pendant on Richie’s neck, overtaking the Pokémon completely.

A moment later, the light faded, and Richie threw back his cape dramatically before glaring at Metagross with determination.

The other Pokémon speared unimpressed.

“You’ve mastered Mega Evolution?” Steven asked in surprise. “I wasn’t expecting that. I didn’t even know that you had a Key Stone on you.”

“Professor Birch called me before I got to Victory Road,” Crystal replied. “He gave me these; we spent our week after taking care of Team Magnus and before I came here training and working with it. I guess it’s about time we actually used it.” She grinned in confidence.

Steven grinned as well. “Good. That means that we can go all out, as well! Metagross!” He gripped a pin that was in one part of his suit, and something glowed from between his fingers. Metagross started glowing as well moments later, the Pokémon riding up into the air before the Pokémon’s body shifted.

Crystal’s eyes widened sharply when the light faded and she saw that Metagross’ four arms now had _claws_ and were all pointed rather menacingly at herself and Richie. “Uh…” She shook her head and gained a determined look. “Okay! Metagross is obviously Steel, so let’s start this off with a Vacuum Wave!”

“Giga Impact!” Steven called out, pointing towards Richie as the Gallade started running towards them, one arm pulled back.

Metagross let out a loud bellow and rocketed forward towards Richie, who stopped for a second before rolling to one side to dodge the oncoming Pokémon. The arm he had pulled back for the attack shot up as Metagross passed, smacking into the Pokémon and sending it flying off course into a nearby wall.

“Yes!” Crystal threw a fist into the air. “Richie, you know what to do!”

“I do!” Richie zoomed forward as Metagross floated away from the wall, looking dazed. The Gallade threw both fists back behind him, then lunged forward and _slammed_ into Metagross’ side, catching the larger Pokémon off guard. _“Close Combat!”_

The resulting fight cloud that the two Pokémon were pulled into obscured the two of them from view. There came sounds of metal being hit and scraped against, and the larger Pokémon bellowing in pain.

Then the dust cleared, Richie pulling back and panting as he stood in a ready stance again, just in case he needed to go in and attack again. His arms and upper body trembled.

 _Lowered Defense, just like what happened before,_ Crystal thought worriedly.

Metagross turned in a wobbly fashion to face Richie, red eyes narrow in an expression of anger. The Pokémon bellowed and started to move towards the Gallade – who took a step back in readiness – only to collapse on the ground and come skidding to a halt in front of Richie.

A moment later, the Pokémon’s body flickered, then returned to what it had been at the start of the match.

Crystal blinked in surprise, as did Richie.

Red circled around above the Metagross for a moment, then swooped down and landed in front of the Steel/Psychic-Type. After inspecting the Pokémon for a moment, he turned and grinned at Crystal before calling out, “Metagross is unable to battle, and Steven’s out of Pokémon! Crystal and Gallade are the victors!”

The deafening roar that followed caused Crystal’s ears to flick back on instinct in defense against hearing loss. Richie clapped his hands over either side of his head, wincing as he lost the concentration needed to keep his Mega Forme in the process.

“It’s almost like a Supersonic!” he called as he reverted back to his normal form.

Crystal gave a laugh in response. “Yeah, but this one isn’t going to cause us to hallucinate.” She hadn’t been involved in the battle as directly as Richie had been, but she was taking deep breaths as though she had just run a marathon. If it weren’t for the fact that she knew her feet were solidly planted on the ground, she would have almost said that she was floating.

Crystal was a Champion. _A Champion._ And on her first challenge of a Pokémon League, no less! The grin on her face was more than enough to show how she felt.

Steven laughed as the crowd’s cheering slowly faded and the former Hoenn Champion walked across the battlefield to Crystal and Richie. “Congratulations, Crystal. You’ve reached a pedestal that few Trainers have been able to achieve. Not many people can say that they conquered the League in any one region so quickly! You and Red are prodigies among your peers.”

Crystal rubbed the back of her head as her ears came up again, looking embarrassed. “I don’t really _consider_ myself a prodigy, but…if you say so?”

Steven chuckled and shook his head, then looked at Crystal with a fond sort of expression. “There’s still one thing that we have to do before we can say you’re an official Champion.”

Crystal blinked in confusion. “What’s that?”

“We have to induct your team into the Hall of Fame.” Steven motioned for Crystal to follow him over to his side of the battlefield. Crystal followed after him, hopping over cracks in the ground that had been left behind from the match.

“Hall of Fame?” Crystal repeated in confusion.

“That’s where they record all the Trainers who have come and beat the Elite Four,” Red explained as he came up next to Crystal. Riley was perched on his shoulder.

“O-oh, really?” Crystal’s eyes widened.

“Yup.”

“I had to get stuck in my Ball for that.” Riley’s face scrunched up in a scowling expression. “Not fun.”

“You don’t have to be in it for long,” Steven called back to them as they reached the other end of the field. “Just long enough to have you registered.”

“Oh; okay.” Richie nodded.

The trio reached the other end of the battlefield, reaching a dark stone platform with a large stone throne with a PokeBall carved into the top of the back. Next to it was a pedestal with six carved hollows in its sides.

“You’ll need to place your team here,” Steven said, motioning to the pedestal. “Which means you’ll have to return your Gallade.”

Crystal nodded, then looked over at Richie, who nodded and returned to his PokeBall before she started to pull the PokeBalls off her belt and put them in the hollows of the pedestal.

The pedestal glowed brightly as the last PokeBall was put in place, and a pulse of light went from its top down to its base. Lines of bright blue energy shot from the pedestal and over to the throne, climbing up to the PokeBall carved into the back.

Steven nodded to the throne. “Go on. It’s yours now.”

Crystal looked between the throne and Steven in awe. She stayed in place for a moment, then walked over to the throne and sat down on the stone seat.

A moment later, fireworks exploded into the sky above the stadium as the crowd roared again with loud, encouraging cheers as the PokeBall on the back of the throne glowed a bright pink.

Crystal jumped at the light display, then grinned at the fireworks and the cheers. Her team’s PokeBalls exploded open, releasing the Pokémon within and forcing Steven to move back quickly in order to avoid getting bumped back by Ando. Crystal noticed and motioned them to come over, and the team quickly gathered around the Champion’s seat.

Red laughed, then jumped up onto the platform, grinning. “Now that you’re Champion of Hoenn, you’re going to be getting challengers for your seat. You don’t have to stay here and wait for them, though.”

Riley snorted. “Yeah; _you_ certainly don’t like to stay in one place.”

Crystal smiled and chuckled. “Yeah; Hoenn is nice, but I don’t think that I want to stay here until a new Champion takes my place.”

“Well then, Miss Champion, where do you want to travel next?” There was amused glint in Steven’s eye.

Crystal cocked her head to one side thoughtfully. “I don’t know. There’s a lot of places that I’d like to go to.”

She thought back to her birthday in Lavaridge, when Blaine had called her in Flannery’s home.

“I think I want to go back to Kanto, first,” Crystal decided. “Blaine has a Fennekin waiting for me. After that…well, wherever I go, I know it’s going to be interesting.”


End file.
